London Taxis Head to Disneyland Paris

This year's Children's Magical Taxi Tour is drawing closer - on 18th September 2015 the countdown will take place at the Big Breakfast Send Off.  Leaving the City of London with great excitement as many onlookers wave them off, the convoy of taxis will wend its way down to Dover, where it will board a P&O ferry to Calais and on to its destination of the Disneyland Paris resort. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors and the taxi drivers themselves, who give their time freely, the trip has grown and gone from strength to strength with support of the Livery Companies and the corporate sector. Some of the taxi drivers have actually taken part in every single trip since the first one in 1994, an amazing commitment. The ferry trips are donated kindly by P&O. The car deck full of London taxis is quite a surprising sight to fellow travellers, as is the Disneyland hotel car park full of cabs over the weekend.

The Big Breakfast Send Off is attended each year attended by a number of our sponsors and dignitaries alongside the VIP guests - the children. This year the ribbon will be cut by the Lord Mayor Locum Tenens Alderman Sir David Howard at 08.10 sharp, signalling the beginning of the trip. More than 400 people set off on the trip, taking children with life limiting illnesses on this magical journey. As well as the children, the Magical Taxi Tour is supported by medical teams, ambulances, breakdown services and carers. The trip, organised by The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, will be escorted by police officers City of London Police, Metropolitan Police in the UK and also fellow officers from over the channel, the Gendarmerie Nationale. The "Disney Committee" for the trip is chaired by Phil Davis, who has this year won City Livery Company Root and Branch Award for 2015.

Once at the resort the children will enjoy a day in the theme park, followed by a Gala Dinner which is also attended by the Disney characters who sign autographs and pose for photos with the children - truly magical. Fund raising in today's economic climate is even more difficult than it has been in the past and without the continuing support of the drivers, City Liveries and the Magical Taxi Tour sponsors this event could not carry on. But the Disney Organising Committee is confident it will carry on bringing smiles to the faces of these children and the supporting team who travel.