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THE OLDEST MOBILE PHONE IN LEEDS?

The chance discovery of a brick sized 'mobile' phone has prompted a leading Leeds businessman to launch a city wide phone amnesty in a bid to raise cash for Physcap, a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life of severely disabled children and in turn also helping the third world increase access to modern telecommunications.

Marshall Frieze, Managing Director of Pioneer Communication Solutions off York Road, Leeds, has been supplying the UK business community with telecommunications systems since the early 1990's.

He was still left bemused when he discovered a long lost early generation Motorola 4800x 'mobile' phone lurking in the back of one of his office cupboards during a recent re-organisation.

He said:"The phone weighs over 4kg and I remember one customer telling me they actually sprained their wrist carrying one! It's hard to believe that mobiles have come such a long way since then. Mobile handsets are now so streamlined and you can even get phones in tiny watches".

"In the UK there is an average of two handsets to every person, so I know we could put those old phones to really good use in developing countries and raise some much needed funds to help Physcap at the same time".

Marshall has linked up with a specialist phone collections agency, Re-Claim in a bid to gather as many old phones as possible from over the next six weeks. Marshall said "The response from the Leeds Business community has been amazing - we have over 16 successful local businesses supporting the initiative including the BBC and Galaxy 105."

"We will be positioning collection boxes in businesses throughout the city and all handsets deposited will be reconditioned and sent to developing countries. A donation of £2-£20 per handset, depending on the model, will also be given to the Physcap, so it's vital that we get hold of as many unwanted mobiles as possible."

"I am so proud of being from Yorkshire and I know we are very generous up here in the North. I have decided to donate a Blackberry to the person who deposits the oldest phone as my way of saying thank you for supporting such a worthwhile cause"

The campaign starts today ( Tue 4th Sept) by which time branded Pioneer Communication Solutions collection boxes will have been distributed to participating businesses in and around Leeds city centre.

Anyone who would like to participate can request a phone collection box from Re-claim by telephoning 01635 876 900.