Guest blog written by Holly Taylor

The Dexchange is one of a series of ridiculous projects we’ve put into the old K6 phone boxes we rescued from removal in Bradford on Avon. BT ran an ‘adopt a kiosk’ scheme, by which a local council or group can take on ownership of these lovely old things for just £1, rather than BT removing them. We formed a crack team of volunteers and applied to Bradford on Avon Town Council for the pound and a small amount of money to buy a ‘kit’ of the replacement panes and paint.

In 2017 we got to work, stripping and scrubbing the phone box down, and restoring it to its former glory. It took two days and some elbow grease, but it was worth it.

With a shiny new coat of paint, it was ready to be deployed as a free community space. Since starting up, it’s been a seed and plant swap station, an art gallery, a display cabinet for Scouts’ projects and many other things.

Last year, with an eye to reducing our household waste at Christmas, we turned it into an exchange where folks can swap their old festive decorations for new ones. Hopefully, this will help people to think about how they reuse or recycle their old things and help us all to form the kinds of environmental habits that make it easier for us to reduce our impact. We had loads of boxes and bags of shiny things donated and swapped.

What’s next for the phone boxes? Who knows! Follow us on Facebook @phoneyboxesBoA to find out!