100 Black Cabs to Disney 🚕

At half past four on Friday morning, Craig pulled up outside our house in his black cab. By the evening we were at Disneyland Paris. What happened in between, I'm still trying to put into words.

First stop was Canary Wharf, for a grand breakfast with Dame Susan Langley, the Lady Mayor of the City of London, the Sheriffs and a room full of other officials - all of whom, I suspect, had set their alarms almost as early as Craig.

We were one small part of the Children's Magical Taxi Tour - a convoy of 100 London black cabs that, every year since 1994, has carried children living with serious illnesses, and their families, to Disneyland Paris for three days. It is organised by the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, and every single driver gives their time and their cab for free.

Travelling Like the Pope 🚔

I'll admit I expected a nice long drive. What we got was a moving road closure.

Every junction and every roundabout ahead of us was blocked by police, and no car was allowed to join the road or the motorway in front of us. On the motorway they were pulling other cars off to clear the way, so every lane was ours. We were, I confess, causing a bit of traffic.

Somewhere along the way I sent a message home: I feel like the Pope. The City of London Police on our right, the Gendarmerie on our left, Kent Police in front and the London Ambulance Service behind. Hats off - they had it organised down to the last roundabout.

At Dover, half of the P&O ferry had been kept just for us. And then came France.

At the Assevillers services on the A1, motorway operator Sanef and around 140 French volunteers had turned a motorway rest stop into a fairground. The hospital clowns of Les Clowns de l'Espoir and the volunteers of Les Blouses Roses - two French charities who bring play and laughter to children's hospital wards - were joined by towering giants from the Hauts-de-France, Star Wars characters, face painting, a merry-go-round, local bands and, somewhere in the middle of it all, an accordion, played by local musician Bobby M. All that, for a snack stop. There was food, there were presents, and there were people who had simply come out to cheer children they had never met.

And the waving. It was everywhere. At every stop, at the port, at passport control, at the roadside - staff, officials and complete strangers, all waving. From Canary Wharf to Disney, it felt as if the whole route had come out to wave us through.

The Magic Kingdom, Our Way

At Disneyland Paris we had priority almost everywhere we went. Every child was given 25 euros by LEVC, the company that builds the cabs, to spend on whatever they fancied - on top of the presents and sweets that had been arriving since breakfast. By the end, I had genuinely run out of places to put them all.

Aleks and Nikola approached the park with two very different plans.

Aleks, of course, had no interest in the gentle rides. He wanted the scariest and the fastest, and nothing else would do.

His favourites? The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Disney Adventure World - a haunted hotel lift that drops you in the dark - and Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, the Iron Man roller coaster in the Avengers Campus. At the end of every single ride he came off bouncing with excitement and turned to me with the same question:

"Daddy, can we do it again?"

We did. Many, many times.

For a boy whose body has been through as much as his has, there is something quietly wonderful about watching him march straight to the biggest drop in the park - and then ask for more.

Nikola took the gentler route - Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Peter Pan's Flight, a spin round Autopia and a laser battle on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast - and somewhere along the way fell completely in love with Stitch. She loved every minute of the weekend, and came home very happy and very much in need of her beauty sleep.

A Night at the Ball

That evening, after a full day in the parks, came the ball. The grown-ups - cab drivers, police officers and all - turned out in black tie and evening dress, while the children came in Disney dresses or their own smartest outfits. Everyone was dressed to the nines, for a night that belonged entirely to the children.

A children's party might seem a small thing. But for children whose weeks are usually measured in appointments and treatment plans, a night of simply dressing up and dancing like anyone else is anything but small.

Thank You 💛

Craig, our driver - for getting us there and back safely, from our front door at half past four in the morning to Disney and home again, and for looking after us in the park too. You were so much more than a driver. And to Craig's wife and daughters, thank you for getting up so early to wave us off at Canary Wharf, and for the lovely presents for Aleks and Nikola.

The Children's Magical Taxi Tour and the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers - for organising all of this, year after year, run entirely by volunteers.

Dame Susan Langley, the Lady Mayor of the City of London, with the Sheriffs and the livery companies who sponsor the tour - for joining us at breakfast and seeing us off in style.

The City of London Police, Kent Police and the French Gendarmerie Nationale - for escorting us every mile of the way, and for making a convoy of taxis feel like a state visit.

LEVC - for the children's spending money, and for the cabs that carried us there and back in comfort.

The London Ambulance Service - for following close behind, so we never had to worry.

The AA - for the breakdown trucks riding with the convoy, just in case.

P&O Ferries and everyone at the ports of Dover and Calais - the port staff, the security teams and the border officers on both sides of the Channel - for the room, the patience and the warm welcome.

Sanef, the volunteers at Assevillers and the people of France - at the services and along every road, for the food, the presents, the smiles and the endless waving.

The staff at Disneyland Paris - for the priority, the ball and the magic.

And to every volunteer, sponsor and stranger who played a part - the list really does go on.

Can we do it again, Olek? We'd love to. 💛