Post by The Dark Knight on Aug 9, 2014 22:54:38 GMT
Taxi driver Ian Reid is urging cabbies not to lose their way when it comes to staying in shape.
He partly blamed a serious illness he suffered a year ago on the nature of the job.
Now Ian and colleague John Consterdine have set up a charity to raise money for two good causes – St Ann’s Hospice and the Lancasterian Specialist School based in West Didsbury.
“A lot of taxi drivers don’t do enough exercise,“ said 47-year-old Ian, from Brooklands, Sale. “They’re sat down all day and there’s a lot of stress involved driving around all day, especially with all the traffic in Manchester nowadays.
“I went up to 19 stone and had a chest infection that left me with an inflamed spinal cord. I know the underlying reason was because I wasn’t fit and knew I had to improve my level of health. I don’t want other drivers to end up like me.”
Ian has embarked on a fitness regime and aims to take part in the Great Manchester Cycle on June 30, raising money for the hospice where his late auntie Edna Fearns (76), from Salford, was a leukemia patient and Lancasterian School, which uses his cabs to transport pupils with special needs.
Ian and John have set up Manchester Taxi Aid, encouraging colleagues to take part in a series of sporting challenges this summer to boost fitness levels and raise money for the two charities.
John, from Prestwich, is doing all of them, starting with the Greater Manchester Marathon on Sunday, April 28, before the Great Manchester Run, Swim and Cycle and the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride.
He runs Manchester Taxi Tours, taking visitors to on a guided tour of famous landmarks in his black cab which he has been driving for 20 years.
John has also had a relative treated at the hospice. “I’m a big fan of St Ann’s which is a wonderful institution. It has such dignity and a great sense of belonging. The treatment from staff was second to none.”
www.sah.org.uk/about/news/news-stories/2013/april/manchester-cabbies-raise-pounds-by-losing-pounds
He partly blamed a serious illness he suffered a year ago on the nature of the job.
Now Ian and colleague John Consterdine have set up a charity to raise money for two good causes – St Ann’s Hospice and the Lancasterian Specialist School based in West Didsbury.
“A lot of taxi drivers don’t do enough exercise,“ said 47-year-old Ian, from Brooklands, Sale. “They’re sat down all day and there’s a lot of stress involved driving around all day, especially with all the traffic in Manchester nowadays.
“I went up to 19 stone and had a chest infection that left me with an inflamed spinal cord. I know the underlying reason was because I wasn’t fit and knew I had to improve my level of health. I don’t want other drivers to end up like me.”
Ian has embarked on a fitness regime and aims to take part in the Great Manchester Cycle on June 30, raising money for the hospice where his late auntie Edna Fearns (76), from Salford, was a leukemia patient and Lancasterian School, which uses his cabs to transport pupils with special needs.
Ian and John have set up Manchester Taxi Aid, encouraging colleagues to take part in a series of sporting challenges this summer to boost fitness levels and raise money for the two charities.
John, from Prestwich, is doing all of them, starting with the Greater Manchester Marathon on Sunday, April 28, before the Great Manchester Run, Swim and Cycle and the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride.
He runs Manchester Taxi Tours, taking visitors to on a guided tour of famous landmarks in his black cab which he has been driving for 20 years.
John has also had a relative treated at the hospice. “I’m a big fan of St Ann’s which is a wonderful institution. It has such dignity and a great sense of belonging. The treatment from staff was second to none.”
www.sah.org.uk/about/news/news-stories/2013/april/manchester-cabbies-raise-pounds-by-losing-pounds