OLD BUT STILL GOLD: Retired London taxi helps to raise tens of thousands for charity
An old iconic traditional London black taxi has helped raise over £60,000 for charity as part of the BC Club's driving challenge.
The BC Club started as a group of guys getting together to have a good time, whilst doing something positive to help those less fortunate, donating £400,000 to numerous charities to date.
The BC Club driving challenge was born after the Chairman of the club, Shan Seewooruthun sold his vehicle and his fellow members thought it would be a good idea for him to drive something a little bit different. Low and behold, they chose a London black taxi.
Wanting to turn the arrival of such an iconic vehicle into something positive, the driving challenge was launched. Each member of the club would be charged £250 to drive the cab for a week and they would need to cover a minimum of 150 miles. During that week they were not permitted to drive any other mode of transport.
The aim for the team was to use the black taxi to raise as close to £100,000 for charity. Currently two businesses have raised a whopping £60,000 for their chosen charity; Variety Wessex, which provides support for sick, disabled and disadvantaged children, by taking it in turns to drive the cab each week.
Steve Wells of DWP Housing Partnership and a club founder, said: “It all began as a bit of a joke and we hoped to raise £15,000. But businesses and individuals have been so generous we’ve raised more than £60,000 in 24 weeks, and we have until January before we finish.
“It really is a great gimmick and puts smiles on people’s faces and that encourages them to donate. The most important thing is to help the disadvantaged children and we know that charities have seen their revenues reduce since the pandemic struck.
“Now is a really important time to help them and the taxi is one small way of doing that. We’d love people to give us a wave or a toot if they see the cab, and they can always donate via the BC Club’s website.”
