By Tom Davies. Photo: Yusef Jama, left, hands over the cheque to Iman Ahmed Ali, right, of the Al Aklhas centre Foodbank in Splott.
Cardiff’s taxi drivers have come together and donated money to local food banks following a successful campaign, which won emergency lockdown pay from Welsh Government for all cabbies in Wales.
The drivers protested in November with Unite the union outside Welsh Government offices in Cathays Park, to raise awareness of their dire financial situation during the pandemic as many of them were not making enough money to support themselves or their families.
The loud and angry protest that featured workers in the cars honking horns and this led directly to the union negotiating a deal that saw Welsh Government put aside a special pot of money that was then given to all Welsh councils which drivers could apply for. Many are still struggling, but have given what they can from the money to help those in even greater poverty.
On Wednesday 17th of February, Yusef Jama, Taxi Driver and branch secretary with Unite the union, presented the Al Ikhlas food bank with a cheque for over £3,000.
Taxi driver Gareth Carter was also there to hand over the money. “The financial situation of most taxi drivers over the pandemic has been very poor,” he explained. “We’re probably down at least 40% on our takings, at least, which has really been a struggle.”
The drivers that signed up to the system could receive up to £1,500 – £2,000 for each grant to support themselves and their families. There have currently been two grants with a third coming up, representing a major win for workers. All drivers in Wales are eligible for the money, and the union – particularly Yusef – has been helping drivers who don’t speak English as their first language fill out the necessary forms.
Instead of simply taking all of the money themselves however, many drivers came together to support the most vulnerable in the community, and perform their own version of wealth distribution. This has happened despite ongoing financial stress among drivers.
“Not everyone is suffering but, we are a charitable country overall, and some people do fall [through] the net of support unfortunately, that’s why we’re here to look after them, and make sure they are catered for,” says Gareth.
Since the first lockdown in 2020, people have been seriously struggling financially and many can no longer support themselves or those who depend on them, so more people are having to turn to food banks. Many in the taxi trade are acutely aware of this.
The Al Aklhas centre, which is also a mosque, is located on Broadway in Splott. Many of the people who attend the mosque are asylum seekers and refugees who need help, but the Iman Ahmed Ali is keen to stress that the food bank helps the whole community and supports anyone in need. Figures from Cardiff Council 2015 show that 40% of houses in Splott are classed as low income.
“We have seen a massive increase in the number of people using our service,” Iman Ali says. “it’s not just asylum seekers and refugees.”
“People who are self-employed are coming to us because they can’t make enough money over lockdown and they find themselves using our service.”
He says the community they help is very broad, “but since COVID has intervened, we are even having people from low-income families, and those whose jobs were affected over lockdown.”
The number of people Ahmed says who use the foodbank on a regular basis is a sober reminder of the scale of poverty in Wales.
In a two-hour slot on Tuesdays the food bank will serve a minimum of 150 people, the charity also provides food delivery to those who cannot leave their houses and also supports those that come to them during the rest of the week.
On average, the Al Ikhlas centre will provide 250 to 300 people that live in Cardiff with food and essentials they need to survive each week. This is just one of 18 separate food banks that operate within Cardiff. Wales has the highest poverty rate in Britain.
Ahmed Ali says that the donation from the taxi drivers will help the food bank for weeks to come, “We are very appreciative to all they have done, and we are so happy that this is such a big amount, over £3000, and we cannot express our thanks to them enough.”
Welsh Labour MS for Cardiff central, Jenny Rathbone, had also been invited by the union to attend the Al Aklhas centre when the money was handed over.
“The Al Ikhlas Mosque has been running a food bank for over a year now just using volunteers, and it supports one of the poorest communities in Wales,” she said “…This has been a reflection on the fact that the poorest among our community are usually the most generous of all.”
She acknowledged that the protest and vocal campaign by taxi drivers forced the Welsh Government to provide funding, but said the UK government’s eligibility criteria for self employed workers was to blame for the dire poverty taxi drivers were plunged into in the first place.
Unite Wales says that following the campaign, the funding given to cabbies in Wales is now more generous than any of the other four nations that receive UK Treasury funding.
Jenny Rathbone was also asked by voice.wales about the question of poverty in general, and if Welsh Government must take some responsibility for the crisis in Wales and do more to help the most vulnerable.
“The Food boxes aren’t provided by the government in Wales, that’s an English story,” she replied, in reference to the recent scandal that footballer Marcus Rashford has been campaigning over. The star recently praised the fact that Wales will continue to provide free meals throughout school holidays.
“Cardiff council has worked hard to provide children who receive free school meals with vouchers so they can buy things they need,” Ms Rathbone continued, “so we haven’t had any of the nonsense that’s gone on in England, but that’s a completely different issue all together.”
But while it is the case that the biggest driver for people visiting Foodbanks is Universal Credit and the scandal of meagre food boxes has been focussed more on England, Welsh Government has come under fire over the issue of child poverty recently.
A coalition of anti-poverty campaigners are currently in dispute with Cardiff Bay over the question of free school meals, with the Child Poverty Action group saying that 70,000 children in poverty are not eligible for the provision in Wales, and the country has the worst eligibility criteria in Britain.
The money given by drivers however will be felt throughout some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community, providing them with food and support throughout the pandemic.
The Taxi drivers that donated to the food bank can feel proud of themselves for helping the community, Gareth Carter explains:
“Charity is in the heart, you can give as much as you please, I’m sure now that a lot of taxi drivers may have for the first time given to charity, I think when they see the outcome, they will do it again and give as much as they can to help the people in the community that are struggling”
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*an earlier version of this article said the donated figure was £3,500. This has been amended
