On Thursday 9 May, committee members Colin Greaves, Malcolm Shaffron and John Godfrey from the London Taxi Drivers’ Charity for Children (LTCFC) visited Gainsborough Primary School to deliver 180 brand new high visibility vests, which were purchased by the charity for the school.

The vests will ensure that the children and teachers are visible and safe when they are out on a day trip with the school.

Their existing vests were very old but budgets commitments meant they didn’t have the funds to replace them. This meant some year groups had to go out without wearing a high visibility vest if it was a whole school outing.

Gainsborough Primary School in West Ham is a two form, inner city, inclusive school. They were short listed for a National Autism Award – a real acknowledgement of the excellent work that happens at Gainsborough, to support their 14 resourced provision places for children diagnosed with severe autistic spectrum disorder, along with other children within the school with ASD.

Julie Carver, Lead teacher at Gainsborough Primary School said: “Children’s safety is the utmost importance, and is the highest priority when teachers and parents escort large groups of excited children on an excursion.

“We cannot thank the LTCFC enough for providing these wonderful high visibility vests. It is one of the most effective ways to ensure the children’s safety. It will provide peace of mind when we are out on our school trips.

“The children are really looking forward to the LTCFC Southend-on-Sea outing in June when they can proudly wear their high visibility vests.”

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