Nearly 600 iconic red phone boxes across Scotland are up for grabs – and local communities are being urged to take them on and transform them for the 21st Century.
Since 2008, a total of 482 phone boxes across the country have been taken on by communities for just £1 each through BT’s Adopt a Kiosk programme.
Redundant phone boxes, once a lifeline of communication before the arrival of mobile phone networks, have been transformed into everything from defibrillator units and mini history museums to art galleries and book exchanges.
In Orkney, community organisation Westray Development Trust converted the red phone box into a home for one of the island’s six public access defibrillators, after community first aiders highlighted that there was limited access to this life-saving equipment on the island.
Westray Development Trust now gives locals CPR & Defibrillator Training sessions to equip them with skills and confidence to act in an emergency.
Isobel Thompson, operations manager of the Westray Development Trust, said the initiative had significantly improved access to life-saving equipment on the island.
She said: "The red telephone box on the Westside of Westray was an ideal location to install a public access defibrillator as the telephone box was both memorable and already strategically placed.
"Thanks to BT's 'Adopt a Kiosk' scheme we were able to expand our defibrillator network and improve access to life-saving equipment in an emergency for our isolated island community."
READ MORE: Council launches bid to rescue two red telephone boxes
BT will also consider adoption requests to house defibrillators in modern glass phone boxes, a potentially life-saving conversion.
Alan Lees, BT Enterprise unit director for Scotland, said: “With most people now using mobile phones, it’s led to a huge drop in the number of calls made from payphones. At the same time, mobile coverage has improved significantly in recent years due to investment in masts, particularly in rural areas.
“We’re currently rationalising our payphone estate to make it fit for the future, and the ‘Adopt a Kiosk’ scheme makes it possible for local communities in across Scotland to retain their local phone box, with a refreshed purpose for the community.
“Thousands of communities have already come up with a fantastic array of ideas to re-use their beloved local phone box. Applying is quick and easy and we’re always happy to speak to communities about adopting our phone boxes.”
From Aberdeen to Plymouth, the Community Heartbeat Trust charity is working with BT and local communities to install lifesaving defibrillators in local kiosks.
Martin Fagan, National Secretary for the Community Heartbeat Trust charity, said: “BT’s phone box kiosks are iconic British structures, and repurposing for this life saving use has given them a new lease of life. To date, we have converted about 800 ourselves, with another 200 in the pipeline.
“Placing the equipment in the heart of a community is important to save on time. Kiosks are historically at the centre of the community, and thus great locations for defibrillators.”
As part of plans to modernise its payphone estate, over 400 payphones across towns and cities have also been upgraded by BT to digital units, called Street Hubs, offering free ultrafast public Wi-Fi, free UK phone calls, USB device charging, environmental monitoring and more.
BT’s Street Hubs also play a vital role in sharing public information, for example during the Covid-19 pandemic Street Hubs have displayed key advice from local councils.
Street Hubs form part of BT’s plan to transform the UK’s high streets with a digital communications service designed for the 21st century.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel