That old phone in your drawer? A fresh start for someone else 

If you haven’t yet jumped on the Marie Kondo, declutter-your-house-and-make-your-life-amazing-by-living-minimally bandwagon, you really, really should.

And as you look around your own house, searching for that second set of car keys you just can’t seem to locate and really, really need, you’ll find a drawer (make that drawers, plural) filled to the brim with cr*p: old Sellotape, 45 chargers and plugs for devices you haven’t used or owned since 2005, batteries with no juice that you always wanted to recycle but haven’t had a chance to… and phones.

So. Many. Old. Phones.

In fact, new research from Three found that 80% of Brits admit to having a drawer of cr*p, and 57% of us have old phones stuffed in it (or lying elsewhere around the house).

The issue is that 70% of us still believe we’ll actually use this stuff again one day (now c’mon, are you really going to swap your stunning new iPhone 7 for that decommissioned old iPhone 4 sitting around? Not likely!), so we hang onto all of this cr*p. For comfort, nostalgia reasons and most likely, because we’re all secret hoarders.

Well, we’ve got some added incentives to help you part with those old phones. While they’re not adding much benefit to your life, they could be changing someone else’s.

Yep, those old phones can be recycled and given a new lease on life, with Reconnected.

Three has partnered with charities The Hyde Group and Good Things Foundation to donate unused phones to less-advantaged members of the community (those at risk of homelessness, the unemployed, victims of domestic abuse and soldiers re-entering civilian life after serving in the military).

Through Three’s Reconnected scheme, these phone donations improve people’s connectivity and digital skills, giving them access to a phone and Internet to help them find jobs and places to live.

Your old phone might be sitting in a junk drawer, but it could be a lifeline for someone who isn’t digitally connected and doesn’t have the same opportunities as those who are.

So, whether you want to kick-start your spring cleaning (no time like the present!), declutter your life (and mind) or just want to do something good for someone else, bring your old phone(s) to any Three store in the UK, pick up a freepost envelope and post your old phone to someone in need.

And while you’re doing your bit, you can rely on us to do ours: Three will make sure whoever receives your old phone gets connected to our network completely free of charge for three months, to help get them started.

Think of it as a helping hand – making it right – and help yourself while you’re at it. You may finally be able to find that spare set of car keys…