Embargoed until 00:01 Thursday 26th May 2022
Connecting the disconnected while reducing e-waste: Community Calling rings in 10,000 smartphones for people who need them Community Calling, the pioneering initiative by Virgin Media O2 and environmental charity Hubbub to tackle digital exclusion and e-waste, has rehomed more than 10,000 smartphones with people who need them across the country. The programme was launched in May 2020 to help vulnerable people get online to access essential services, such as healthcare appointments, to apply for jobs and keep in touch with their loved ones during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as provide a sustainable way for people and businesses to recycle old devices, preventing them from ending up in landfill as e-waste. Since then, Community Calling has gone from strength to strength, rehoming thousands of second-hand smartphones with digitally isolated people across the country, along with free texts, calls and mobile data from the National Databank - set up by Virgin Media O2 and digital inclusion charity, Good Things Foundation. By finding a new home for unused smartphones that would otherwise have ended up in landfill, Community Calling has helped save more than 535 tonnes of CO2e. It is estimated an average of four phones are sitting unused for every one phone in use in the UK. While recycling is important, many of these phones sitting in our homes or those that have been discarded are highly functional and could be reused, thereby extending their life and benefiting people who need a device. Community Calling is seeking to address this challenge by boosting smartphone reuse and tackling digital exclusion.
Emily Watson from Hubbub, said: “Community Calling is changing people’s lives across the country. We’ve supported young people and older people, survivors of domestic abuse, asylum seekers and those facing homelessness. “Beyond this amazing social impact, by redistributing 10,000 second-hand phones we’ve
saved more than 535 tonnes of CO2e, which is the same as one person taking more than 850 return flights from London to New York. “Thank you to everyone who has sent in a device to us; you’re helping someone to enjoy all the benefits of internet connectivity, and you’re showing that a model of circularity and extending the lifespan of smart devices is possible. “We’re encouraging people and businesses to continue to gift smartphones so we can help more digitally isolated people across the country.”
Nicola Green from Virgin Media O2, said: “When we launched Community Calling during the height of the pandemic in 2020, we had one aim: to connect the disconnected. “We’re incredibly proud and humbled to see how the programme has grown and helped thousands of people across the UK, with devices and data providing a lifeline for those who need them so they can stay in touch with loved ones and get online to access essential services – from healthcare appointments to applying for jobs. “Community Calling is just one of the ways we’re stepping up for people, the planet and communities with our Better Connections Plan where we’re committed to helping people to lead more sustainable, connected lives, while reducing our impact on the planet.”
The 10,000th device The 10,000th smartphone has been rehomed with Rohi, aged 18, who lives in Lewisham, south-east London. Rohi has used the device to get online to access essential services, online meetings, and for job applications. Rohi said: “I use my phone to talk to my friends, access benefits, and apply for jobs. Being in supported accommodation, young people have limited amount of money to use for items such as smartphones or tablets especially with the running costs. The phone has been very useful for accessing Zoom meetings, housing benefit portals and the Universal Credit site.”
Gift your phone It’s easy to help someone like Rohi if you have an unused smartphone. To donate, sign up online - you’ll receive a free-post donation kit to post your old and workable smartphone, to be refurbished by trusted partner Reconome. It will be data-wiped, sanitised and redistributed with user guides and PAYG SIM cards. Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub are also encouraging businesses to support the campaign by offering bulk device donations, or providing collection boxes in their offices (where appropriate).
If you’d like to support the campaign and donate your old smartphones to Community Calling, visit http://www.hubbub.org.uk/communitycalling for more details.
Coming up E-waste will be a key focus in the coming year for Hubbub. Besides Community Calling, Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub have also established the Tech Lending Fund which will make tablets and free mobile data available to community organisations supporting people in temporary accommodation, while reducing e-waste by maximising the use of refurbished digital devices. The winners of the Fund will be announced imminently. Furthermore, Hubbub is planning to extend campaigns to tackle e-waste helping local communities and collecting evidence that will help to inform the development of DEFRA’s Extended Producer Responsibility policies seeking to reduce e-waste. If you would like to get involved in future campaigns please contact hello@hubbub.org.uk.
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For more information please contact, Maria Kortbech maria.kortbech@barleycommunications.co.uk 07952 507270
NOTES TO EDITORS
ABOUT HUBBUB Hubbub is an award-winning charity and social enterprise that inspires ways of living that are good for the environment - disrupting the status quo to raise awareness, nudge behaviours and shape systems. Their aim is to revolutionise communications with the public about environmental issues - using everyday language and good design to make environmental actions desirable and tapping into things people are passionate about such
as food, fashion, homes and neighbourhoods. This innovative approach saw Hubbub win the Charity of the Year Award at the prestigious Charity Times Awards in 2020. Since its formation in 2014, Hubbub has delivered more than 60 trailblazing environmental campaigns in collaboration with over 700 partners, helping to shift the national debate on key environmental issues such as food waste, sustainable fashion, air pollution and recycling. Hubbub’s campaigns include #LeedsByExample which brought together 25 of the UK’s largest companies to boost recycling on the high street, a 3-year partnership with IKEA to create the world’s largest consumer-facing sustainability campaign ‘Live Lagom’ and creating a Network of 100 Community Fridges across the UK, each redistributing on average 1.5 tonnes of food every month that would otherwise have gone to waste. www.hubbub.org.uk Twitter: @hubbubuk Facebook: @HubbubUK Instagram: @helloHubbub LinkedIn: Hubbub-UK
ABOUT VIRGN MEDIA O2 Virgin Media O2 launched on 1 June 2021, combining the UK’s largest and most reliable mobile network with a broadband network offering the fastest widely-available broadband speeds. It is a customer-first organisation that brings a range of connectivity services together in one place with a clear mission: to upgrade the nation. Virgin Media O2 is the corporate brand of the 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica SA, and one of the UK’s largest businesses. The company has 47 million UK connections across broadband, mobile, TV and home phone. Its own fixed network currently passes 15.7 million premises alongside a mobile network that covers 99% of the nation’s population with 4G, and more than 400 towns and cities with 5G services targeting 50% population coverage in 2023. Virgin Media O2 completed its roll out of gigabit broadband speeds across its entire network footprint in 2021 and plans to upgrade its fixed network to full fibre to the premises with completion in 2028. In January 2022, it also announced that it would be the only major mobile network that isn’t bringing back roaming charges in Europe. Virgin Media O2 is a major investor in the UK. It employs around 17,500 people, has more than 400 retail stores and has committed to invest at least £10 billion over the next five years.
Integration work is progresses at pace, with Virgin Media and O2 launching a joint product - Volt - less than 5 months from coming together. Today, the business delivers award-winning broadband and WiFi connectivity to homes as well as providing a connected entertainment service. This brings together live TV, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and a wide-selection of apps to customers through a set-top box and on-the-go through tablets and smartphones. It also provides 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile services, and is the network of choice for mobile virtual network operators giffgaff, Sky Mobile and Lycamobile, as well as managing a 50:50 joint venture with Tesco for Tesco Mobile. Virgin Media O2 Business plays a leading role in supporting the public sector and businesses of all sizes. This includes a variety of managed connectivity services and flexible working capabilities, security, data insight, 5G private networks and cloud solutions, as well as wholesale services to other operators and partners. Awards for Virgin Media and O2’s telecommunications services include recognition by GWS for having the most reliable UK mobile network for three years in a row (2021, 2020, and 2019) and winning the publicly voted Uswitch awards in 2022 as both the Best Network for Roaming and Most Popular Mobile Network. Virgin Media was crowned Fastest Broadband Provider in the Choose Broadband Awards and Best Broadband Provider in the 2021 Trusted Reviews Awards and at the 2021 Mobile Industry Awards O2 claimed two wins - Network of the Year, and Best Online Retailer. Virgin Media O2 is committed to using the power of connectivity to supercharge communities across the UK, taking action to close the digital divide and helping to build an inclusive, resilient, and low carbon economy. The company has an ambition to achieve net zero across its full value chain (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) by the end of 2040. Virgin Media O2 is registered in England and Wales. Registration number: 12580944. Griffin House, 161 Hammersmith Road, London, United Kingdom, W6 8BS.