Free cabs for the NHS: Over £250k raised. Thank you for all your support!

As we finally ease out of the COVID-19 lockdown, our ‘free cabs for NHS staff‘ scheme has come to an end. We’re delighted with the results – we raised over £250,000 in generous donations from the public to enable frontline NHS staff to travel to & from their hospitals, hospices and mental health centres UK wide by cab for free. The scheme attracted 3,200 NHS staff and free cab trips were taken in over 30 cities across for instance, London, Bournemouth, Cambridge, Liverpool and Dundee.

It’s evident that public transport during the lockdown has been a pain point for many NHS staff, especially for those around the UK being rotated around different hospitals, hospices and health centres. We’re pleased to have played our part alongside the Fishmongers Charitable Trust, and we’re of course grateful not just to our donors but also to our many Cab Operator partners and their drivers who stepped up to drive our NHS heroes at all hours of the day and night. As a result, we have put into practice the considerable experience gained in enabling safer cab transport as part of our precautionary guidelines.

minicabit will continue to support our NHS heroes and collaborate with NHS trusts as much as we can. Meantime, below are just a few of the messages of thanks we received from frontline healthcare workers :

“I am very grateful for this initiative free cabs for NHS staff, we felt supported and valued. Thank you all so much for all your effort and hard work to make this possible. Shout out to those who donated. “

“I work in A&E and have been using your taxi offer for the last couple of weeks. I must say it’s been a godsend. TFL has been unreliable recently and my normal 40 minute commute of 2 trains and a bus has been taking up to 2 hours each way on top of my 12 hour shifts.  I’ve just been booking your cabs to work so I’m not late and using TFL on the way home. This has helped a lot, I don’t mind getting home late but I do find it stressful getting to work very late because another train has been cancelled or bus hasn’t turned up.” 

“I would like to thank your free services to me as well as all NHS staff members. It has most certainly helped a lot to be able to get home at a great time after a hard working shift. Where it would personally take me over an hour to get home after work with the tube I was being driven home in half an hour.” 

“I wanted to send you huge THANK YOU for NHS offer for free Hospitals travels. Lot of NHS staff is being deployed to work in different hospitals and that gives some of non-drivers big struggle.”

“Please help ensure that this service continues to enable staff like myself continue to be able to travel home from work. I for one am a member of staff who is currently relying on this provision to be able to get home. There are many staff on standby or needed in covid times.” 

“As a one of non drivers, I found your offer as an amazing support! I was having really struggle to find good transport as buses in my area are very limited.” 

“Thank for this kind and loving provision. It is very helpful specially after a long night shift and you are desperate to get home and get some rest. a BIG THANK YOU!!!”

“I would like to thank you for the help you are rendering to NHS workers in this pandemic i say a big thank you first, it made my journey faster and i was able to prepare for work earlier the next day.”