The launch

www.phonebrain.org.uk was launched on Monday 4th December 2006 at Portcullis House, Westminster.



The launch, hosted by the Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt and PhonepayPlus Chairman Sir Alistair Graham, provided leading children's charities, MP's and key industry members with the opportunity to discover why the site was created and how it will help children make educated choices about the growing number of premium rate services they encounter in their day-to-day lives.

The launch concluded with a presentation by Kate Belson from PhonepayPlus, who oversaw the development of the site from start to finish. Kate guided the audience through the site, highlighting the key features of each section.

VIPs for the day were the children of Finchley Catholic School for Boys, who having helped develop the site during testing, used the event to demonstrate its interactive elements to guests.

The pre-launch

Hosted by Rt Hon Margaret Hodge, Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry, the pre-launch took place on Friday 1 December 2006 at Barking Abbey Lower School.

The pre-launch was attended by local media and helped to raise awareness of the site prior to the official launch.

Where it all began

Work on testing the Phonebrain.org.uk website first began in July 2006. A research session took place at Finchley Catholic School for Boys, in which the children were asked for their views on premium rate services, as well as their ideas on what could turn an ordinary website into a really useful one.

Development sessions also took place at John Ball Primary School, Blackheath, were 60 prefects tested the website and offered their opinions on how it could be improved.

all photography: Justin Grainge