UNSUNG HEROES BRIGHTON FIRM MAKES
DISABLED BOY’S DREAMS COME TRUE
A little boy was left beaming and his family cried tears of joy after a taxi com- pany made his dreams come true. Alfie Pickering, nine, lives in Kingscote Way near Brighton Station. He is severely disabled after being born with a chromosome disorder and he also has autism. Alfie loves cars and taxis and his family said he is “ecstatic” if he gets to sit in one. The Argus reports that every day, his mother and full-time carer Elana Wood- ham, 35, takes him
in a wheelchair to look at cars in the street. But under lockdown,
there
have been very few cabs on the road. On top of this, the journey is agonising for Elana, who is recovering from back surgery. Now, a charity has stepped in to save the day. Candice Konig, from the charity Forward Fac- ing which looks after children with long- term conditions, heard about Elana and Alfie’s plight. When she learnt of Alfie’s love of taxis, she
contacted Brighton and Hove Alfie Pickering
Streamline Taxis and asked if the firm could put together a short film showing their fleet of cabs. This would allow Alfie to see his favourite vehicles without having to
leave his home. The heart-warming 22-minute video, titled “Hello Alfie: Brighton and Hove Taxis says hello to Alfie who likes taxis”, shows cab drivers introducing their cars and send- ing messages of support. Alfie’s family were overcome with joy. Elana said: “With the lockdown,
there
have been barely any taxis on the roads for Alfie to see and we’ve been struggling to keep him occupied. “He’s watched a video of a Stream- line taxi driver
driving round the city hundreds of times – so to see this personal message has just been abso- lutely amazing.” Alfie’s auntie Kathy Hemestretch said: “We were all gobs- macked when we saw what they had done. It was so beautiful, they really went the extra mile. “The taxi drivers spoke to him like he was one of their own. We all cried our eyes out when each said ‘I love you Alfie’. “This kind gesture has touched our hearts, that these people all took the
time to make a little disabled boy who they had never met very happy. “We really want to thank Streamline Taxis for all their love and kindness. In these very difficult times, we all need some love to bright- en up our days.” Streamline Taxis said it had been “happy to help” – and the firm even issued Alfie with his own badge so he can become a “proper taxi driver”. Watch Alfie’s video at https://forward
facing.co.uk/brighton -hove-taxi-drivers- say-hello-to-alfie/
BLACKBURN TAXI BOSS RETURNS £3,000 CASH TO CUSTOMER AFTER IT WAS LEFT IN CAB
Thousands of
pounds in cash has been reunited with its rightful owners after it was left on the back seat of a Blackburn taxi. According to the Lancashire Tele- graph, a wallet containing £3,000 in notes was left in a cab after a driver had completed a pick-up in Tockholes. However the driver didn’t notice that anything had been left behind by his customers and it wasn’t until they called the firm that he was made aware the money had gone missing. By this stage, driver Imran
86
Fatakiya had picked up and dropped off a further three pas- sengers
in
Blackburn and Dar- wen.
Speaking about the drama, the firm’s owner Foxy Khan said: “Amazingly, the black wallet, con- taining all of the cash, was still in the back of Imran’s car. “I was here at base when we received a phone call to say the customers we had collected from Tock- holes had accid- entally dropped £3,000 in the cab. They had been on their way to view a pony, that is why they had the money
Foxy Khan reunites £3,000 cash with customer
with them. I rang Imran and managed to get him to pull
over and check to see if there was any- thing there.
“The fact he had completed another three journeys by that point and nobody had picked it up is the most amazing thing about all of this.” Mr Khan, who has owned Highfield Taxis for 15 years, said he was pleased when he could ring up the rightful own- ers of the money to say the cash was still there safe and sound. They then arranged for them to come into the office and collect the wal- let. He said: “We pride ourselves on being honest with all of our customers. If ever we
find things in the taxis, which we do quite regularly, we’ll either track down the fare that left it or put an appeal out on our Facebook page for people to see and share.” The firm’s social media pages have now been awash with praise for Mr Khan and his drivers after they posted a picture of the money being reunited with its owners. One user said: “Respect to the driver and firm. Some good is need- ed in times like this.” Another added: “This is lovely to see I’m glad there was a happy ending.”
JUNE 2020
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