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Taxi drivers ‘will not give up’ as Cabbies do Kilimanjaro postpone epic fundraiser until 2021
Due to the events of the coronavirus pandemic, several fundraising London taxi drivers have been forced to postpone their next challenge until February 2021.
When the fundraising group “Cabbies Do Kilimanjaro” announced that their next fundraising challenge would be to climb both Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in October 2020 to raise funds for The London Taxi Drivers’ Charity for Children and children’s community project in Tanzania, no one could have predicted what 2020 had in store.
COVID-19 has changed the lives of everyone across the globe. Most businesses are affected in some way or another, and the London Taxi trade is a major victim of the pandemic with every cabbie in London having their livelihood and earning opportunities hit hard.
Daren Parr, London Cabbie and Founder of Cabbies Do Kilimanjaro, said: “Not only did the world shut down, but people stopped going to work, travelling across the city and the tourist trade was decimated. All the many reasons passengers need cabs in London vanished more or less overnight. To compound this the increase in the number of road restrictions across London made it even harder for our historic and iconic trade to make a living with what little work there was in London.
“The events of this year certainly took their toll with more than half of the original number of cabbies who had signed up to join us on this fundraising climb dropping out.
“It’s a very hard challenge and some underestimated the fitness and stamina level they needed to train for, some suffered injuries that put them out of action but most upsetting of all were those who had to drop out as they couldn’t afford the cost of travel to Tanzania and their kit, as they were getting so little work when they were out and about in their cabs.”
But through all the adversity, fifteen men and women have demonstrated amazing depth of character, prepared to sacrifice whatever it takes to complete their dream and in the process raise as much money as they can for The London Taxi Drivers Charity for Children and the Tanzanian Children’s Community Project.
Daren said: “We have all completed the Knowledge, recognised as one of the toughest tests in the world and we won’t give up. Testament to this determination is Sarah Tobias, one of our team, who has had this wretched virus but with the aid of an inhaler pump still intends to be with us at the foot of the mountain to fulfil her dream. We might not be able to climb in October, but we will achieve this epic challenge.”
Sarah Tobias, 51, from Bethnal Green has been a London Cabbie for fourteen years. With a love for the great outdoors, Sarah was quick to sign up when she heard about the fundraising climb. Sarah’s training had been going very well and she had just completed a training walk with the other Cabbies in the Peak District, immediately before lockdown in March, when she began to feel ill.
Sarah said: “Having COVID-19 was terrible. I was at home isolating and felt really ill. My breathing was really affected, and I was terrified when I couldn’t breathe properly. Every day we would learn on the TV about the increasing number of deaths and it got to the stage where I was frightened to go to sleep but too tired to stay awake. There are even a few days from that time that I can’t remember at all. It was a very scary experience.”
After two weeks Sarah began to feel a bit better, but then went downhill again and after a month was still struggling to walk and got out of breath very quickly. After a training walk at Boxhill, Sarah knew she had to contact her doctor. During the walk she was experiencing a pounding in her ears and couldn’t catch her breath. Her doctor has now tested her with a Peak Monitor Flow (used with asthmatics) and has put her on a Steroid Pump regime twice a day for a month
Sarah continued: “Having the COVID virus has been a huge set back to my training, but it has not dented my determination to succeed. I will be joining the other cabbies in Tanzania next year and will do all I can to summit. Nothing is going to stop me, and I will keep going back to the doctor until we can find a treatment that will make me feel more normal. The London Taxi Driver’s Charity for Children does amazing work with special needs and disadvantaged children and I hope we smash our fundraising target.”
Sarah has just started taking the cab out again. She says it is still very quiet in London, but hopes that things will get back to the new normal soon and the trade will bounce back.
Daren Parr, continued: “We keep our fingers crossed that the situation across the world has improved by February next year but if we have to delay again we will But you can rest assured the we are all proud London Taxi Drivers, who will not give up and we will fight for what we believe in both for our trade and our dreams.”
Cabbies Do Kilimanjaro were due to be climbing Meru and Kilimanjaro in October 2020 but because of travel restrictions have had to delay the climb until the next climbing window in February 2021. To follow their progress visit www.cabbiesdokilimanjaro.com
