You may bah humbug some ideas, but Telstra is making an effort this year, offering free local, national and mobile calls from Telstra payphones this Christmas.
The offer is running as a way to encourage people, specifically those people who may not have enough money to use a payphone normally, to reach out and get in touch with their loved ones.
Telstra used the announcement of the offer to highlight the Sacred Heart Mission who provide meals every day, including Christmas Day, to those less fortunate. Sacred Heart Mission CEO Cathy Humphrey said of the need to connect with other people
While everyone has a different experience of being homeless, at its very core, being homeless is about absence: an absence of a home, a safe place to live, security, choices and control over one’s life. It is also often an absence of family and friends. If you have no one to lean on, no relationships, no support, this impacts on an individual’s sense of safety and connection with other people. Feeling connected is important so people do not feel isolated from society.
There are many reasons people might lose contact with friends and family. We encourage anyone who is apart from their loved ones this Christmas to give them a call.
The offer runs for 4 days, starting on Christmas Eve and running until the 28th of December. Anyone using a Telstra branded phone box will be able to make a call.
Nice – and interesting tech. Apparently these “pay phones” use a new technology called a “land line” – I wonder if it’ll catch on…
Good work Telstra – we bag you all year but this is a nice thing to do.