A north west council has teamed up with DV Safe Phone to deliver useable working phones to assist victims of domestic violence.
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To kick start this great initiative Moree Shire Council has donated 58 mobile phones to the campaign that will redistribute a 'safe phone' to victims of domestic violence to use in an emergency.
Waste Coordinator, Dayna Walker said she is proud that council has come on board with the initiative.
"Supporting a victim of domestic violence with a safe phone, will ensure they can call for help when it matters most," Ms Walker said.
Founder of DV Safe Phone, Ashton Wood said, "access to a working mobile phone to seek crisis support and advice, can literally be the difference between living with, or breaking free from, a life sentence of abuse".
"Having a second phone hidden away is an important part of a victim's safety and exit plan. It also provides security with the ability to call for help in an emergency," he said.
In early 2020, Mr Wood was doing a spring clean, and was struggling to donate his used items to charity shops, which were closed due to COVID lockdowns.
"I rang a police officer friend of mine to see where I could donate some of my stuff to charity and she explained that what they really needed were mobile phones to give to domestic violence victims who were trying to escape dangerous situations," he said.
"The mobile phone is often the first thing to be destroyed, taken, or monitored in a domestic violence situation leaving many with no way to call for help.
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"I told the police that they could have two of my old mobile phones and that's how the charity started."
The campaign is aimed at collecting working phones, testing the phones for functionality, ensuring that all user data has been erased, and redistributing working mobile phones to victims of domestic violence, through registered domestic violence and law enforcement agencies, safe houses, crisis centres and volunteers Australia-wide.
Recycle your old unwanted phone(s) and charger(s) by dropping them off at council or the Moree Waste Management Facility.
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