Edinburgh Taxi Outing celebrates 78th year after police escort row

Edinburgh’s annual taxi outing – a day out for children with complex needs – celebrated it’s 78th year after nearly being cancelled.

The event sees black cab drivers take children with special needs, life-limiting conditions and terminal illnesses for a day out.

It was facing cancellation due to a police policy change that would prevent officers from escorting the cabs.

But, following a meeting, senior officers reversed their decision to provide support following “constructive discussions”, helped by a strong public reaction, which allowed the event to proceed as planned on Tuesday.

Taxis were decorated with colourful balloons STV News

Setting off from Edinburgh on Tuesday, children were taken by dressed-up drivers in a convoy, decorated with balloons or as floats, through the city and out to Archerfield Walled Garden.

The event then stopped at Luca’s, to allow for the refilling of water tanks and for families to fill up on ice cream.

There were signs on the taxis “thanking” Police Scotland after it supported the event in its original route.

Keith Bell, organiser of the outing, admitted there was a “sense of relief” as the event went ahead.

“We’re here now, the sun is shining”, he told STV News. “All the kids are here.

“It’s a sense of relief that he finally got here, and everything’s been pulled together.

“We’ve got people offering us help, and the most important thing is people coming out to the streets and supporting us.”

Police Scotland were thanked by the taxis STV News

Parents and carers alike came out in support of the event.

“It’s always amazing taxi drivers have given up their time to do something special for these kids”, one mother told STV News. “It’s just magic.”

“Look, I’ve been crying this morning already, because coming down Maybury Road, people were yelling and swearing and beeping, and I just think it’s that thing that everyone’s in it together”, another parent added.

A staple of the calendar for almost 80 years, the taxi outing, which is free of charge for the families involved, began in the wake of the Second World War in 1947 and has continued ever since.