North West Taxi Proprietors

Contact: Eamonn O’Donnell
North West Taxi Proprietors
Unit 16
Rath Mor Centre
Bligh’s Lane
Creggan
Derry
BT48 0LZ

T: 028 7136 2556

The North West Taxi Proprietors is a cross community umbrella group set up to tackle problems within the taxi industry and to co-ordinate the organisation of the industry in an effort ‘to create a fair and regulated taxi industry for everyone’.

NWTP has evolved and become much more of a community group dealing with issues of health, education, income & employment, influencing government and volunteering mainly for people within the taxi industry but also for the wider community.

Thanks to funding from the Big Lottery Fund we are now delivering a range of programmes and services.

Health
Under health we aim to improve the health and well being of people through the project by running two main health programmes and disseminating the information learnt from them.

Education
Under the banner of education we deliver two main elements: Essential Skills Classes and Computer Courses.

Income & Employment
Under Income & Employment NWTP help people into employment and help people to maintain their employment. We assist and advise people with Taxi Licensing issues, Access NI, OHS (occupational Health Service) and general taxi issues. We also deliver some taxi training and are engaged with others to expand this training role.

We also provide services to assist with Self Assessment Tax Returns, Tax Credits, NIC-contributions (National Insurance Stamp), rent & rates rebate and other self employed issues. This is a very popular service and one where we find that many taxi drivers are losing out due to lack of knowledge or information. Any taxi driver wishing to find out more about this service or wanting to query their tax credits should phone in and make an appointment.

Influencing Government Policy
We have engaged with the DOE and other official bodies and agencies over different aspects of policy. Many issues have been raised to us by taxi drivers and others. Where we feel there is a valid case we have pursued many different issues. We have submitted a number of papers on various issues to help shape government policy.  We have made submissions to the DOE, Environment Committee and others in relation to the Taxi Consultation leading to the Taxi Act.

Volunteering
NWTP create opportunities for taxi drivers and offices to participate in community awareness and safety programmes.

‘Taxi Watch’ is a programme where taxi drivers and others are trained and equipped with life saving equipment, namely the ‘Balcan Throwline’. This affords the taxi driver the opportunity to make a timely intervention in a life and death situation after someone has entered the water. To date one line was thrown and the person was rescued from the Foyle. Priceless!

NWTP are based in Derry at the Rath Mor Centre but we have clients from all over the North using our programmes and services.