COMMUNITY groups in Worcester are being sought to breathe new life into BT’s iconic red telephone boxes including one outside one of the city’s historic churches
The telephone box on Quay Street outside All Saints Church is one of three across Worcester and 282 in the West Midlands being offered for adoption by the telephone provider for as little as £1.
BT will continue to provide electricity if already in place to power the light for adopted kiosks, free of charge. Where electricity is available, adopted boxes can be used as homes for defibrillators.
More unusual conversions for boxes already adopted around the country include mini-libraries, miniature art museums, cake shops and information centres.
Telephone boxes two further locations are also being offered for adoption. The box at the top of Bath Road near its junction with Sidbury is being offered as is the one at the bottom of St George’s Square at the junction with Barbourne Road
More than 3,600 traditional red boxes are available for adoption across England and BT will also consider adoption requests to house defibrillators in more modern boxes.
BT is encouraging community groups to seize the opportunity to do something wonderful with phone boxes that have little or no usage. Already, more than 5,800 payphones have been adopted by communities since 2008.
Katherine Bradley, BT’s senior Payphones Commercial and Operations Manager, said: “We’re pleased to be giving even more local communities the chance to adopt a phone box.
“The opportunities are endless and we’ve already seen some amazing transformations. Applying is easy and quick and we’re always happy to speak to communities about adopting our traditional BT red payphone boxes.”
Communities can adopt a kiosk if they are a recognised public body, such as a parish council, community council town council or parish meeting. Boxes can also be adopted by registered charities or by individuals who have a payphone on their own land.
Visit www.bt.com/adopt where application forms and further information can be found.
