RESIDENTS in Brawby have helped turn their village phone box into a life-saving piece of equipment.

Rather than lose the landmark, members of Brawby Village Craft Club raised the money needed to adopt it and equip it with an Emergency Defibrillator with the support of the nationwide scheme.

Richard Schofield, of Community HeartBeat Trust, who had the original idea behind the scheme, said: “There are thousands of phone boxes in rural locations throughout the UK, and many of them are sitting idle. Over the next five years, we’re aiming to encourage the UK’s rural communities to install a defibrillator in their local phone box, with the aim to create a national network of two and half thousand defibrillators”.

The British Coatings Federation provided the paint system to revitalise the kiosk, while BT will take on board the cost of maintaining the electricity supply to the phone boxes, so the equipment will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Mark Johnson, Head of the Street Payphone Business at BT said: “We launched the Adopt a Kiosk scheme because the red telephone box is a significant part of our national heritage. We’re pleased to support this worthwhile project that will not only help to continue the legacy of the red kiosk, but crucially will provide local communities with such a beneficial and lifesaving function.”

For more information go to www.payphones.bt.com/adopt_a_kiosk/HTML/payphone/index.htm