Minicab firm goes extra mile to help in snow

A MINICAB firm went the extra mile to help get vital supplies to scores of elderly and vulnerable people cut off by the snow and ice.

After seeing a pensioner struggling to get to her local shop, the managers of Manchester private hire firm Club Cars put out an appeal on social media asking anyone who was stranded by the bad weather to get in touch, and their drivers would drop off whatever they needed.

For days their kind-hearted drivers travelled all over Greater Manchester to help people out, topping up gas meters and going to the shops for bread, milk and eggs.

Parts of the region were cut off as the ‘Beast from the East’ brought freezing winds and blizzards.

Public Health England issued a warning to people to stay warm and support those who had been left housebound. Rachid Zaharra, one of the general managers at the cab company, which is based at

Oatlands Road in Wythenshawe, said they were motivated to help when the bad weather hit by thinking of the plight of those who may be alone and struggling to get essentials.

The 25-year-old said: “Myself and a couple of managers were having a meeting regarding the disruptions on the roads and we happened to peer out of the window and we noticed an old lady struggling to get to the shops. It was quite distressing to see that really.

“We thought, we have got cars everywhere, why can’t we help?

“We put out a Facebook post not thinking we were going to get much of a response but it just lit up like a fuse and started going crazy.

“We did 70 or 80 deliveries over the couple of days. The response we were getting from the people, it was amazing.”

Rachid, who has been with the firm for nine years after starting as a phone operator, said it was the reaction from those who needed help that made them realise how vital their support was.

A Wythenshawe housing association even contacted them to ask if they could help their residents, and they pulled out all the stops to respond.

“The people getting the deliveries were ecstatic,” Rachid added. “It was really great to be able to give back.

“We were happy to help out. It was mainly elderly people who were calling up, a majority of them had never used us before – we cover a very big area but we were getting calls from areas that we don’t even cover.

“At the time we didn’t really think it would be too bad but there was an incident where a driver was dropping supplies off and the estate where he was hadn’t been gritted whatsoever and he was really struggling so at one point he got out and walked half-a-mile with the delivery.”

Of the company’s 750 drivers, around 300 were able to get on the roads to help with running their normal taxi service, as well as dropping off deliveries.

Rachid said: “The furthest one we did was in Rochdale – we wound up in a 4x4 because none of the normal cars were able to get up there.

“If we hadn’t helped some of the people I couldn’t see how they could have possibly helped themselves. It’s really difficult to drive in this weather.

“For some people their gas had run out and if we didn’t help them they were at risk of pneumonia. It was a fantastic effort from everybody.”