Crossroads star Tony Adams opens soaps’ charity ‘telephone box’

The actor cut the ribbon at the Powick kiosk earlier this week.

Tony Adams is the patron of the charity’s Worcestershire branch.

Tony Adams, best known for television medical drama General Hospital and daytime serial Crossroads, on Monday (June 24th) opened the Crossroads Caring for Carers Worcestershire ‘information kiosk’ in a ceremony attended by local dignitaries, a BT representative and members of the local community including the village postman and regional BBC Radio. Supporters of the charity as well as members of the saga’s official fan club also popped along to the site to see Tony open the fundraising and promotional kiosk.

The ex-BT phone box was brought to the attention of Crossroads Caring for Carers by BBC Hereford and Worcester’s Malcolm Boydon show when the telecommunications company decided to ‘sell-off’ out of service boxes to charity or community organisations for a token fee of £1. The Powick kiosk, standing at a crossroads, was purchased by the Worcester-based branch to act as recruitment and information outlet for the charity.

Tony Adams, second left, takes to the operating table in General Hospital.

Jane Rossington as Tony’s on-screen wife Jill, with mother-in-law Meg Mortimer played by Noele Gordon.

Caring for Carers was established in 1974 by ATV Network as the Crossroads Care Attendant Scheme following a storyline in the soap opera which saw Sandy Richardson – actor Roger Tonge – become paralysed following a car accident in 1972. As the storyline progressed it became clear his mother Meg, who had become his sole carer, would need help and assistance. The storyliners researched the real-life options and discovered there wasn’t any NHS services or organisations offering the kind of assistance Meg – played by Noele Gordon – needed. This was introduced into the storyline and Meg, along with other carers in the fictional village of Kings Oak came together to start a Caring for Carers scheme to allow those who look after loved ones a chance to have a holiday or even just a few hours break.

ATV were inundated with requests to find out more about the service – only it didn’t exist in the real world – after discussions Crossroads producer Reg Watson, actor Noele Gordon and ATV bosses Lew Grade and Leonard Mathews helped establish the first Care Attendant scheme in Rugby, with a £10,000 initial start-up donation. The charity, with each region run independently, is now one of the biggest caring organisations in the world.

Tony Adams cuts the ribbon to officially open the Powick Crossroads Caring for Carers Worcestershire information kiosk.

Tony Adams first long-running major television role came via ITV’s General Hospital as Doctor Neville Bywaters before switching to the Crossroads Motel as businessman Adam Chance from 1978 to 1988 and again in 2001-2002. Other guest apperances include in series such as Crown Court, The Upper Hand, Doctors, The Two Ronnies, Bergerac and Doctor Who.

Theatre roles include the critically acclaimed role of Grandpa Potts in 2000’s run of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, an enigetic star role as Fagin in a 1990s stage production of Oliver Twist and back in the sixties working with names such as Ginger Rogers in the 1930s set musical Mame.

Tony is the patron of the Crossroads Caring for Carers Worcestershire branch and paid a visit to their offices on Monday before heading to the phonebox to officially open the venture as reporter Mike Garrett discovered in our video feature below…