A ring in the Spring

A Ring in Spring  

For the month of April 2003, Help the Aged is running a ‘Ring in Spring’ Appeal encouraging the public to be green spring cleaners by dropping their old unwanted mobile phones in at any Help the Aged shop. 

During the spring-cleaning frenzy, some of the estimated 45 million phones in circulation at present across the UK could end up in landfill sites. This poses an environmental hazard as the harmful substances inside mobile phones seep into local soil and water.

In the UK, most people replace their mobile every 18 months and, according to a recent survey, mobile phones are the number one item among outdated hoarded gizmos and gadgets. Phones cluttering homes across the UK could be transformed into as much as £30 each to help an older person. 

Help the Aged will generate money from recycling the phones to fund its many schemes to combat poverty, reduce isolation, defeat ageism and promote quality in care.

Help the Aged will also accept very old or broken phones and ensure that they are disposed of in an environmentally friendly way if they have no value on the second-hand phone market.  Your unwanted mobile phone handset will fetch the highest price for Help the Aged if you are able to hand in the charger and battery with it.   

As well as being handed into a Help the Aged shop, mobile phones can be sent to: Mobile Phone Recycling Scheme, Help the Aged, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9UZ. Freepost envelopes are available for five phones or more. Tel: 0870 770 3287. For more information, visit www.helptheaged.org.uk  

Turning old phones into new funds