A charity established to give veterans a new lease of life is aiming to expand its operations throughout the Highlands, following its success in Inverness.
Fares4Free is working with taxi firms across the region, offering essential journeys to ex-military personnel to help them reach services and appointments to which they would otherwise not have access.
The initiative is also designed to ensure veterans do not become isolated from the outside world.
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David Gibson founded the Fares4Free initiative two-and-a-half years ago.
The charity then teamed up with Inverness City Taxis and has gone on to become a thriving success story across the city.
Mr Gibson said yesterday his aim now was to create a “safety net” across the whole of the Highlands.
And he added: “We want to be sure that services are available – whether they are used or not – so that, when someone does have a problem, the service is there.
“We now want to go west and north. We have got Fort William covered. There is a small taxi in Fort William there for us.
“And we want to be as far north as Thurso and Wick. We want to cover Dornoch and everywhere in between those towns.
“We want to get the west side of the country where you have got Ullapool as well. It’s about creating a network and a safety net.”
With Highlanders preparing to commemorate the centenary anniversary of the end of the First World War during Armistice Day this coming weekend, veterans will be offered an opportunity to be part of the occasion.
Lynn Gilchrist, manager of Inverness City Taxis, said: “We were approached by David and we obviously thought it was a good thing.
“It’s giving something back to veterans and we felt it was a nice charity to subscribe to.
“We take veterans for doctors’ appointments – something they would struggle with if it wasn’t for us.
“They are maybe not able to get on to buses or afford it, so we feel we are giving something back to them.”
She added about the forthcoming Arminstice Day: “There are so many of the veterans that would struggle to get down to the remembrance service and that’s a big thing for them, so it will be great to help on the day.”
