Charities want old mobiles for Christmas

If a new mobile phone is on your present list for Christmas, you can also put your old one to good use and recycle it for charity.

Some of the UK's leading charities have teamed up with specialist recycling company 'The Recycling Appeal' to run eco-friendly fundraising appeals, meaning every mobile you donate can generate funds for your chosen cause.

The phones are refurbished and resold, with a substantial proportion of the proceeds going to charitable organisations. You choose which charity you want to donate to - Marie Curie Cancer Care; the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation; the Royal National Institute of the Blind; the Children's Hospice Association Scotland or Northern Ireland Hospice care.

Jamie Rae, chief executive of Eurosource said: "When people receive new mobiles for Christmas their old phones are often forgotten about.

"These phones join the UK's estimated 75 million redundant mobiles - enough phones to stretch from London to Lapland more than three times.

"If you get a new mobile this year, choose a charity and give it a fantastic Christmas present - your old mobile."

As well as old mobile phones, the group will take empty printer cartridges and recycle them, raising money for charity in the process.

If you have a mobile phone or printer cartridge to donate call: 08712 50 50 50, state which of the five charities you wish to support, and ask for a Freepost envelope. Then all you have to do is pop it in the post.