Local taxi driver Andy Daniel has been nominated for the Parliamentary Taxi and Private Hire Awards 2020. Local MP Rachael Maskell put Mr Daniel forward for this nomination following reports of his volunteer work during the height of the national lockdown earlier this year.
While Mr Daniel is well-known across York as a friendly and hardworking taxi driver, he is also someone who has given up his time to help others during the Covid19 pandemic. Volunteering for the wonderful “Supper Collective” – a community organised project aimed at providing help and food for some of the most vulnerable residents across the city – Andy gave up months of his time to help, delivering hundreds of meals to local residents for free – a lifeline for many people.
Steve Holding, owner of The Pig and Pastry and founder of The Supper Collective, also sang Andy’s praises, saying:
“Andy was a great help throughout the whole of lockdown. What an amazing effort to turn up every day to help deliver meals to those in need. Delivering meals was always more than just feeding people during lockdown, brief chats at the gate and seeing a friendly face like Andy everyday brought comfort in scary times as well as a nutritious meal.”
MP for York Central, Rachael Maskell, said:
“After hearing about his volunteer work undertaken to support vulnerable residents around York, I was delighted to be able to nominate Andy for this award.
“As well as being well-known and highly thought of as a taxi driver for local firm ‘659 Taxis’, his generosity offered in a time of crisis for so many shows what an asset Andy is to York. We are lucky to have him and are very grateful for all of his hard work, and to all those involved in this brilliant community initiative.”
The awards ceremony will take place virtually later today (Wednesday 14th October) and will seek to shine a spotlight on the taxi and private hire industry after what has been a difficult year for many in the taxi trade, something Lee Clarke, Office Manager at 659 Taxis, also highlighted in his comments:
“As a company, lockdown has seen the job count drop dramatically. Andy took it upon himself to help out the community by delivering meals with The Supper Collective to people self-isolating, which in turn helped to keep our name out there. We are all really happy that he has been nominated by Rachael Maskell for an award.”
As for the nominee himself, Andy was surprised to receive a nomination:
“After lockdown was announced I knew that my normal work as a taxi driver would be heavily effected so I found work as a delivery driver for a local restaurant. I then heard they were making pizzas for The Supper Collective and thought that I could help them with deliveries that were furthest from their hub at The Pig and Pastry. I contacted Steve and started delivering seven days a week for a couple of hours. I enjoyed helping and it also gave me something to do. I was surprised to be nominated for an award, but very honoured.”