Jack and Jill Foundation Launches New Appeal to Collect 100,000 Phones for Recycling

Dublin – 16 January 2006 – The Jack and Jill Foundation has today launched a new campaign – to collect 100,000 old and unwanted mobile phones for recycling. Every phone collected will help the 2003 Irish Charity of the Year in its vital work with young children with severe developmental problems. Phones can be donated by calling FREE on 1850 525 545. Recycling information can also be found at www.folamh.ie

Celebrity broadcaster Eddie Hobbs, who has long been a supporter of the Jack and Jill Foundation, comments, "So many people have mobile phones lying forgotten in drawers and boxes. We would like to ask people to have a look around their homes and to ask their family, friends and colleagues to do the same, as every phone collected has a financial value to Jack and Jill. We're not asking for your money, but for something many of us have and no longer need – old mobile phones."

Jonathan Irwin, Chief Executive of the Jack and Jill Foundation, comments, "The work we undertake has a real and positive impact on the children we care for and the families we support, and every euro we raise helps us continue this work. If you have an old mobile phone you no longer need please do give the free phone number a call, as your donation can really make a difference."

The Jack and Jill Foundation (registered charity number CHY 12405) was founded to care for babies born with, or that develop, severe developmental problems, including cerebral palsy. Babies in this condition often require twenty-four care, which is not covered by most state or private insurance schemes and can lead to great difficulties for the families concerned. The Foundation provides this much-needed service during the first four critical years of a child’s life. Please see http://www.jackandjill.ie/ for more information.

It is estimated that there are more than 15 million old and unwanted mobile phones in Ireland. Every year millions more phones are replaced with new models. At present less than one in 25 are recycled.

Phones can be donated by calling 1850 525 545 to request a freepost recycling envelope. People with more than 15 phones to recycle can also request a free courier collection.

All mobiles collected for the Jack and Jill Foundation campaign are put to good use. Working phones are shipped to developing countries for reuse, where the huge demand far outstrips the supply of affordable new models. Damaged phones, meanwhile, are stripped down to their individual parts and recycled. Faulty batteries are sent to a special processing plant in France where they can be safely disposed of according to strict environmental guidelines.

Notes to editors
For media enquiries and interview requests please contact Guy Cookson, PR Manager
T: 086 824 3900 or guy@folamh.ie, 30 Dunsoghly Park, Ratoath Road, Finglas, Dublin 11.

About the Jack and Jill Foundation
The Jack and Jill Foundation provides early intervention home respite to families with babies up to the age of four with severe developmental delay, who require intensive medical and nursing care. Registered charity number CHY 12405.