Departing on February 17th 2011 from the London’s Transport Museum in Covent Garden. Made possible by Performance Direct Insurance’s Non Standard Awards scheme, ‘It’s on the Meter’ is an attempt to break the World Record for the longest ever taxi journey.
London Black Cab
‘It’s on the Meter’ will see a classic London Black Cab driven from London to Sydney, Australia, aiming to raise the cost of the £20,345 fare for the British Red Cross. Covering over 30,000 miles, the trip will take in 37 countries and take over eight months.
Starting out as a hair brained scheme dreamed up during a long (and expensive) taxi journey home, the ‘It’s on the Meter’ team of three friends, Leigh Purnell, Johno Ellison and Paul Archer have been planning the trip for three years.
Crossing Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, China, South Asia and Australia, the three will cross 36 borders and 10 time zones, battling freezing temperatures in the Arctic and searing heat in the Sahara.The Ride
The taxi set for superstardom is a humble 20-year-old London Black Cab, purchased for £1,500 on eBay in 2009. After many hours in the garage modifying the classic city vehicle (which already has over 100,000 miles on the clock) for the open road, ‘Hannah’ (named after the Ella Fitzgerald song about the man-hater Hard-Hearted Hannah) is now a completely unique custom taxi.
The journey has been made possible thanks to the kind support of various organisations and sponsors, including Performance Direct Insurance’s ‘Non Standard Awards’ – an innovative scheme which provides finance to those seeking to realise their motoring dreams.
For more information about the Non Standard Awards and how to enter visit: performancedirect.co.uk/nonstandardawards
Driving for the British Red Cross
The ‘It’s on the Meter’ team will be touring the UK in their taxi before the expedition departs and are keen to raise awareness of their challenge to help reach their £20,000 fundraising target for the British Red Cross.
The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. It is part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies.
The British Red Cross helps vulnerable people in the UK and abroad prepare for, withstand and recover from emergencies in their own communities.”
“It’s on the Meter is a fantastic project to raise money for the British Red Cross through an adventure in a London Black Cab across four continents. I’m delighted this iconic symbol of London will be used to raise awareness of and money for such a wonderful charity, and I wish the team the best of luck on their journey.” – Mayor Boris Johnson
If you would like to get in touch to arrange interviews, or maybe even a ride in the taxi, then please email:
paul@itsonthemeter.com or call Paul Archer on 07824 332626
The ‘It’s on the Meter’ expedition will be recorded in video blogs and regular updates on Facebook and Twitter.
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