Annual Taxi Outing postponed until next year

Phyllis Stephen

March 19, 2020 5:22 pm

74th Annual Edinburgh Taxi Outing for children with special needs

The organisers of the annual taxi outing have taken the decision today to cancel this year’s outing. They have written to us to explain their reasons:

It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to cancel this year’s Outing scheduled for Tuesday 9th June.

We had hoped to delay making a decision for as long as possible in the hope that current circumstances might improve, but this doesn’t look likely, hence our decision to cancel.

We took this decision based on a number of factors.

1. The closure of the schools means that it would be almost impossible to contact the families who would take part in the Outing, as we rely on the fantastic school staff who hand out our application forms and then chase up and return all the completed forms to us.

2. We are wholly dependant on owners and drivers giving us their taxis for the day. Current circumstances mean that taxis are suffering serious financial losses and this doesn’t look likely to improve in the foreseeable future. Now many drivers would still give up their time to make sure that no child missed out, but we feel that this is just too much to ask of them whilst they struggle to earn a living.

3. We also need the services of many volunteers, especially at Archerfield and again, we don’t know how many would be available on the day.

4. We receive amazing support from many, many businesses which make it possible for the Outing to go ahead. We felt that it wouldn’t be fair to these businesses, many of whom may be fighting just to stay open themselves.

It goes without saying that having to cancel an event that’s been happening annually since 1947 is not something we wanted to do, but it is the only sensible and responsible course of action open to us.

Finally we would like to thank the public who have supported us over the years and especially all the new supporters we gained after last year’s ‘incident’ and we would ask them to kindly store that support and enthusiasm for 12 months and we look forward to seeing everyone on the 74th Outing next year on Tuesday 8th June 2021.