New Year, new mobile?

Home is where the heart is, as the saying goes…but not if you are a victim of domestic violence.

The Body Shop campaign ‘Help Stop Violence in the Home’, launched to support the national charity Refuge, gets off to a fresh start in 2004 with a major push to collect unwanted mobile phones.

Many people will have received new phones for Christmas which means there will be thousands of disused mobiles lying around in people’s drawers and cupboards. In response The Body Shop is urging anyone who has an old phone to bring it in to their nearest store.

Refuge will receive £2.75 for each phone donated. By simply picking up a Freepost envelope in-store, customers can surrender their unwanted phones and in turn help raise funds for Refuge.

Since its launch last autumn, the campaign has already raised £56,000.

The Body Shop aims to increase awareness of a problem that affects one in four women in their lifetime,* as well as helping to raise much needed funds for the victims of domestic violence by providing a range of support services including a website offering advice.

A campaign pin badge will retail at £1 with proceeds (75p) going to Refuge. It features a daisy within a house representing the entitlement of everyone to a safe home-life.

Dame Anita Roddick founder of The Body Shop added: “Many people will have received a new mobile phone for Christmas and are probably wondering what to do with their old one. We have the solution – by simply donating your old mobile phone to our Help Stop Violence in the Home campaign, you will be helping to support women and children across the country affected by domestic violence.”

Stop Violence in the Home will feature in over 300 stores of The Body Shop across the UK.