CHARITY...
TAXI FIRM BOSS RETRACES STEPS OF 12TH CENTURY BISHOP
A 28-year-old Frome man is retracing the steps of a 12th- century bishop whose life he studied at uni- versity to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Paul Parsons studied the life and work of Bishop Gerald of Wales during his degree course in ancient history and archaeology. Paul, who runs BP Taxis with his mother Barbara, said: “I’ve always given money to charity but never my time. Obviously I knew all about Race for Life and I have always enjoyed walking.” Leafing through his old university books and rereading about Bishop Gerald gave him the idea of walk- ing 500 miles around Wales, following a trek taken by the 12th-cen- tury scholar.
He reckons it will have taken him a month to walk from Hereford averaging 22 miles a
LEEDS TAXI CONVOY GIVES
HOSPICE KIDS GRAND DAY OUT Dozens of poorly chil- dren and their families had an extra special chauffeur-driven day out thanks to the gen- erosity of Leeds taxi drivers.
Paul Parsons is planning a 500-mile walk around Wales to raise money for Cancer Research UK
day and taking Sun- days off.
Some of the walking will be mountainous across the Brecon Beacons and through the Black Mountains. He will be taking a tent and camping where he can. Paul has been training for the mammoth walk which begins on August 1 and regularly walks back from Trow-
bridge with a rucksack on his back.
He hopes to raise £2,000 for Cancer Research UK, a charity close to his heart fol- lowing the death of his aunt Pat who died of cancer in her early 50s.
The money he raises will go specifically to fund the development of treatment for child- hood leukaemia.
FROM MANSFIELD TO SKEGNESS!
A convoy of 24 drivers and cars from the city’s hackney carriage trade teamed up to take youngsters from Martin House, and its partner children’s hos- pice Hannah House, to the Flamingoland theme park for the day. The free trip for 100 people, including car- ers and siblings, was
laid on by members of the Unite Leeds asso- ciation. Paul Landau, chairman of the asso- ciation, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “We decided that Martin House would be our chosen charity due to it being a local charity to Leeds. The drivers are thrilled to have taken part in a day which brought so much joy to the fami- lies, and every one of them said that this hopefully will be an annual event.”
The drivers took part in
fundraising to stage the trip, and received £700 in donations from many local business- es. The convoy was also accompanied by police outriders sup- plied by West Yorkshire Police as it set off from the chari- ty’s Boston Spa base. Linda Hedley, deputy head of care at Martin House, said: “We are so grateful to Paul Landau and his fellow taxi drivers for arrang- ing this wonderful outing to Flamin- goland.”
2,700 MILE CHALLENGE FOR TWO MINEHEAD DRIVERS
Photo courtesy of Mansfield Chad
Youngsters Eian and Tia Evans point driver Stuart Davis in the right direction as a convoy of 6Five2’s taxis (whose controller was the lucky winner of the Mercedes at the PHTM Coventry exhibi- tion last year) headed
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off to Skegness. Drivers from the firm donated their time and fuel to transport 350 children to the seaside for a free day out. They enjoyed fish and chips and ice cream, as well as a donkey ride. The families
came from local Mans- field schools and the Mansfield District Council homeless sec- tion. Taxis set off from Mansfield’s Superbowl and the trip was sup- ported by many local businesses.
Minehead taxi drivers Gordon Fagan and Ian Boden are planning one of their longest journeys - but on two wheels and without picking up any fares. The self-employed pair are in training for a cycle ride that will take them from Lympstone in Devon to Lion-sur- Mer, which was part of the Sword Beach sec- tor in the Normandy D-Day landings of World War Two. From there, the intrepid two will return to Mine- head after a total journey of 2,700 miles across England, Wales, Scotland and France. And they are hoping that the ambitious trek, which is expected to take around two months to complete, will raise at least £5,000 for Help For Heroes, a charity helping those wounded in Britain’s current conflicts. Gordon, 39, and Ian 45, admit they are not natural cyclists but the inspiration for their challenge has come from reading a book by Denis S. Fawcett MBE, who lives in Minehead and served as a troop sergeant major with 41 Royal Marines Commando.
‘Finding My Way Through the Minefield of Life’ charts the life of the war veteran, who came ashore at Lion- sur-Mer in June 1944. “We’ve both been inspired by this book and also have links to the armed services, so we can sympathise with what our forces are going through.” Although the cycle ride will not take place until June next year, Gordon and Ian have already started training.
“It’s certainly a chal- lenge - I didn’t even have a push bike before we decided to do this,” said Gordon. Although the exact details of the route have yet to be planned, Gordon and Ian hope
to complete around 12 hours a day cycling. They will be sleeping in tents along the way but are hoping to per- suade someone to come up with a sup- port vehicle and driver for the tough journey. “We need as much sponsorship and sup- port as we can get,” said Gordon.
“Our minimum target is to raise £5,000 but any- thing over that would be a real bonus.” More details on the trip are available at
www.heronet.org.uk, under the title of mine- field of life on the events section.
Any would-be sponsors can contact Gordon on 01643 707544 or Ian on 01643 704754.
PHTM SEPTEMBER 2010
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