Old phones give new hope to stroke callers

A mobile phone recycling scheme will turn useless handsets into valuable pounds for The Stroke Association. The country's leading stroke charity is one of four health care charities set to benefit from the Fonebak scheme, available now, in the Dixons Group Stores.

Just one mobile phone will help cover the cost of five minutes on the Stroke Information Service's national phone lines. This service enables the charity to help thousands of stroke patients, their families and carers each year by offering information and support. Dixons, Currys, PC World and The Link stores will all stock freepost bags which customers can use to post off their old phones for recycling.

Derek Wyeth, Director of Fundraising at The Stroke Association says: "Many people have at least one old mobile phone lying around at the bottom of a drawer. Simply by taking old telephones down to one of the Dixons stores donors will be making a valuable contribution to The Stroke Association and helping the 300,000 people who are living with the effects of stroke in England and Wales."

Together with the Breast Cancer Campaign, The MS Society and The Prostate Cancer Charity, The Stroke Association is one of the four beneficiaries of the Dixons Group Health Matters campaign.

Someone in this country suffers a stroke every five minutes. Stroke is the biggest cause of severe adult disability in England and Wales and one of the country's biggest killers.

Ends

For further information please contact The Stroke Association Press Office:
Telephone: 020 7566 0328 / 0317

For additional information on the Dixons Group please contact Kellie Evans in the Press Office on 01442 354 515 or email kellie.evans@dixons.co.uk

Notes to editor

· A stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted.
· Stroke is one of the biggest killers and the largest single cause of serious adult disability in the UK.
· Around 100,000 people in England and Wales suffer a stroke each year - about 10,000 are under the age of 55 and 1,000 are under the age of 30. One person every five minutes will suffer a first stroke.
· The Stroke Association is the only national charity solely concerned with combating stroke.
· The Stroke Information Service is a local rate telephone information service which is open from 9am to 5pm. Telephone 0845 3033100.
· Fonebak is a take-back scheme co-ordinated by Shields Environmental which aims to eliminate landfill of old mobile phones by reconditioning handsets for re-use.

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