Traffic attendant is man on a mission

WARREN Patterson, a Team Leader for the NI Road Service is a man on a mission. When he’s not supervising Traffic Attendants in and around Lisburn, he’s collecting mobile phones. And it is all for a good cause.

His collection currently boasts 130 – of varied makes and models. But Warren, 31, from Lisburn, is not alone in this endeavour – his son Noah, four, is his eager partner.

Father and son are collecting the phones for vouchers as part of a Recycle & Exchange scheme run by Helping Hands’ iPads for Autism Scheme. Autism is a lifelong disability which affects the social and communication centre of the brain. Noah, who has autism, can then help his Dad exchange the phones for a range of things, including iPads, which help his learning and development. The vouchers are accepted at stores such as Learning Space, Belfast, and for sensory equipment and disability aids through Fred Storey, Comber.

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The Pattersons heard about the scheme through Warren’s wife, who is a member of the Lisburn branch of Autism NI.

Warren regularly asks friends and families for their old mobile phones, as well as his fellow TA colleagues at NIRS partner NSL, throughout Belfast.

Having so many mobile phones hanging around gives Noah the opportunity to play phones with his toddler sister. “Noah loves running around the house pretending to be on the phone, in fact he and my little daughter both play ‘phones’ with each other,” said Warren. “But they keep thinking that they work like my wife’s iPhone and try to make them work by running their fingers across the screen, which is very funny. I also like to think that, through asking colleagues, it’s helped a few more people understand autism spectrum disorder, which can only be a good thing.”

Warren and Noah should have no problem doubling their collection, as there are now more mobile phones in the UK than people.

If you have an old phone that you would like to donate, phones can be left in the Higher Ground Coffee Shop, 137 Gregg Street, BT27 5AW.

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