Milton Keynes grandad turns shattered phones into arty masterpieces - and they're selling like hot cakes

Army veteran David Sutton, who lives on Westcroft, takes the phones apart and mounts all the pieces on a display board, which he frames and sells as wall art.

His masterpieces are being snapped up on Facebook Marketplace and he is donating all the profits to a local children’s cancer charity.

The 69-year-old said: “When I retired I got bored sitting at home, so about seven years ago I took some local council-run art classes and that’s what got me making things.

“Lots of old or damaged phones are being thrown away, or left in drawers and forgotten about. I hate wastage and seeing them dumped, so I wondered if there was anything that could be done with them.

“I started making them into these displays that show people the pieces the phones are made out of. It’s incredible to see how many bits each one has.”

David added: “I posted them on Facebook Marketplace and to my surprise, people started asking if they could buy them. When they all sold, I started making more.”

Needing more phones, David asked Milton Keynes Freegle Community if anyone had any spare or broken devices.

Freegle offers unwanted and reusable items to group members for free to keep items out of landfill.

“Everyone has been very generous. I’ve been all over Milton Keynes collecting phones,” said David.

He’s now produced a string of art displays with all types of phones, ranging from very old models to the most modern iPhones.

“It gives the phone a second life...One of the most popular ones I did recently was a Samsung Galaxy S6.”

The Milton Keynes Freegle Community was set up by Michael Hoeben, a 57-year-old bookkeeper who runs it with three volunteers.

He said: “Freegle is like online dating for stuff. We connect people who have stuff they don't need with people nearby who need stuff they don't have. It's free to join, free to use, and everything on it is free - and it saves money, hassle and the planet - all at the same time.”

Michael added: “We love David’s project and are so happy to hear that he’s been able to give these items a new life, reduce waste and help people in need.

“I'm originally from South Africa, and most items from clothing to electricals got handed down through families and then to family friends or workers. So broken irons to holey socks were immediately repaired or passed to others to reuse.

“I often saw people discard perfectly good furniture on the street simply because they decided on a change of colour scheme at home. It was heartbreaking, and so casually disposing of stuff seemed extremely wasteful.”

In the past 12 months, the MK Freegle community has saved 96 tonnes of items from landfill, saving 48.9tonnes of CO2 and creating £68,223 of benefit for the local community.

Michael said he would love to hear how other locals have used Freegle to improve the community.

You can request an item on Freegle, or list one as available, here.