Taxi drivers have gone the extra mile to ensure that children in hospital during the Christmas period can have the best festive fun that they can.
A fleet of generous drivers from LA Taxis and Dean Taxis, part of the Nearby Group, the biggest taxi provider in the area, brought more than 300 Christmas gifts to the nursing staff at the Great North Children‘s Hospital in Newcastle.
From construction kits to jigsaws and dolls to musical boxes, the generous taxi drivers bought toys to the value of £3000 which were handed over to nursing staff for distribution to the children.
Rob Armstrong, director of the Nearby Group was very proud of his team who had organised the collection of presents and the delivery to the children’s wards at the hospital.
“This is an amazing thing that the lads and lasses at LA and Dean Taxis have done for the children who are being looked after in hospital at this time of year. They’ve all went the extra mile, and I am very, very proud of their thoughtfulness and generosity.
“We have a long tradition of helping charities and good causes and at Christmas, I can’t think of what it must be like to spend time in hospital as a child, so this gesture is very rewarding for myself and my wonderful team of drivers and office staff. I’m very proud of them all.
” Our LA and Dean Taxis managers, Faizal Pervez, Steve Armstrong and Emma Mulholland have done a brilliant job collecting donations from the drivers and buying all of the toys on behalf of our drivers. Emma has been tirelessly Christmas shopping since the end of November. She has become a familiar face in a lot of toy shops.”
Emma Mulholland was delighted to organise the donations:
“We do a lot of hospital patient runs and our drivers sometimes see very poorly children and it tugs at the heart strings when you see what they have to go through to get better. Our drivers decided to try to buy as many presents as possible for the hospital and together with a generous donation from the management team, we have bought 304 presents with an average value of £10.
“Each and every toy will be put to good use and will bring with it a smile on the faces of those children unfortunate enough to be in hospital at Christmas.”
Emma McQuitty, Fundraising Coordinator at Newcastle Hospitals Charity said: “It’s always hard spending time in hospital, especially at Christmas. We’re so appreciative to the team at LA and Dean Taxis for generously donating gifts to the young patients at the Great North Children’s Hospital. I’m sure the gifts will be gratefully received by the children.”
