A BRIGHT yellow telephone box has become a hot topic since it appeared in the middle of a village this week.
The old-fashioned phone box has been donated to the Fareham and district fundraising group of Macmillan Cancer Support.
Volunteers have decided to put it outside the former doctors’ surgery in Station Road, Wickham, where they will be hosting a Saturday pop-up shop for the next two months.
Starting today, the old surgery will be running as a charity shop each Saturday until November 24, from 10am to 3pm.
And the unusual phone box is one of the items that can be bought.
Volunteer Shirley Pearce said: ‘The phone box was owned by a company called Prysmiam who used to have it in their premises before mobile phones as somewhere for their staff to make phone calls. But of course nobody uses it now and they offered it to us.
‘It is for sale, but we haven’t put a price on it – anybody can make us an offer, but it weighs half a tonne, so it’s not the kind of thing you can buy on a whim. It has provoked quite a lot of interest already – it does stand out a bit.’
As the fundraisers have been getting their premises ready, they’ve been getting visits from people unaware of its new use.
Group chairwoman Celia Creedon said: ‘There are still quite a few people coming along regularly, expecting to find the doctors’ surgery still here. We even had an ambulance turn up once looking for a patient, but the new surgery is just around the corner, so it’s not far to redirect them, and the old sign is still up here, which I think is confusing people.’
The group also wanted to thank Warwicks of Wickham and the local lorry driver who helped move the phone box.
Anyone who wants to make a donation of items to sell should contact Shirley on 01329 231089 or Celia 01489 601684.
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