fonesforsafety®

This scheme turns used mobile phones into personal safety alarms for individuals affected by domestic violence (DV). The personal safety alarms are issued by the police or domestic violence support agencies giving direct access to the 999 emergency services and dedicated crisis support. fonesforsafety® has established a series of national pilot projects including London (Southwark & Hounslow), Birmingham, Bristol, Norfolk and Glasgow, with support from the Home Office, Comic Relief and The Body Shop. In 2007, fonesforsafety® published an Instruction Manual focusing on the best practice to allow the replication of the project in all Regional Government Office areas and across London. The next two years will focus on the project’s national roll-out.

The fonesforsafety® project aims are:
• to support individuals affected by domestic violence.
• to encourage the public to engage positively with recycling.
• to make a valuable contribution to the co-ordinated community response to domestic violence.

In meeting these aims, fonesforsafety® combines environmental protection with social empowerment. fonesforsafety® reconfigures old/unwanted mobile phones collected from/donated by the public into “999-only” emergency phone alarms. The recycling element serves as an income generation/sustainability arm of the project. The reconfigured fonesforsafety® phone alarms are then distributed to beneficiaries via various service delivery agencies, depending on existing local DV partnerships (which include the police, Victim Support, Women’s Aid). Records of the fonesforsafety® phone alarms phone numbers are tagged within the local police control room centre so that in any instance where the fonesforsafety® phone alarms are activated; they can receive a highly specialised and appropriate response.

For more information, see the documents below.