The Offline Project, founded by Pelé Zachariah, begins every event with a ritual: attendees place their phones in a lockbox, and Zachariah locks it, encouraging full presence for the next few hours. Since August 2025, he has hosted screen-free events in London, ranging from group walks to collage-making classes and supper clubs. "I don't place them in for people, because it's nice for them to physically put it in the box themselves, walk away, and think: for the next two or three hours, I'm fully present," he says. First-timers often feel uneasy, but many later express relief. "People have said to me, 'I felt really weird' or 'I felt super uncomfortable for the first few minutes not having my phone on me.' Then they'll say, 'I didn't know how much I needed that.'"
Why People Are Seeking Phone-Free Time
The appeal is clear: UK adults spend an average of four and a half hours online daily, mostly on phones, per Ofcom's 2025 Online Nation report. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's 2025 TouchPoints survey found that Britons now spend more time on phones than watching TV for the first time. The government plans a social media ban for under-16s in spring 2027, covering platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. When the news broke, a teenage girl went viral for saying she would "stare at a wall" with her newfound free time.
Jarred Laros, 31, from Essex, a regular at the Offline Project, says his average screen time is seven and a half hours a day. "I'm always glued to a screen, whether it's my iPad, my MacBook, my phone, or all three at the same time," he says. He attended a "paint and sip" evening, where an artist taught a landscape scene. "I liked the idea of getting off my phone and being more intentional with how I'm spending my time. I would never try to teach myself how to paint, but doing that in a community setting is very easy-going. The conversation flows."
Phone-Free Events and Venues Gain Momentum
Eventbrite data shows attendance at phone-free events globally increased by 121% from 2024 to 2025. Musicians like Bob Dylan, Fred Again, and Harry Styles have enforced no-phone policies at UK gigs. Comedians Sarah Silverman and Russell Howard have also banned phones, with pouches or promises of "no phones, no distractions." Annie Mac's club night Before Midnight places stickers on phone cameras. "It reminds people to be in the moment. You're only going to get so much satisfaction out of blurred videos with distorted sound, or dark, fuzzy photos," she says. "Nightclubs are traditionally places where you go to feel a sense of freedom – to be whoever you want to be. They're meant to be dark for that dual sense of losing yourself and finding yourself at the same time. Phones inhibit both of those things."
Cody Ramone, 31, from Derby, switched back to a "dumb phone" in 2024 after years with a smartphone. "I got tired of all the notifications and being constantly online," he says. The change has boosted his attention span, leading to more reading and creative hobbies like crochet. "I get bored more. Being bored is what drives you to try new things, pick up an old hobby, or think creatively," he says.
The Science of Phone Addiction
Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of Dopamine Nation, explains: "Digital media activates the same reward pathway as drugs and alcohol, releasing dopamine, our reward neurotransmitter, in a key area of the reward pathway in the brain. Moving images are like catnip for the mammalian brain, leading to video-chaining, akin to 'chain smoking'. Once we begin, it's hard to stop, even when we want to." Over time, we become desensitized and seek more potent rewards, losing joy in modest pleasures like sunsets or shared meals. "We spend more time scrolling alone. We become increasingly dissatisfied and lonely," says Lembke. She advocates for "collective spaces where we come together device-free."
Digital Detox Clubs and Craft Sessions
The Offline Club, founded in Amsterdam in 2024, now has 14 chapters across 10 countries, including London and Bristol. Events begin with phones in a "phone hotel," followed by an hour of silent activity and an hour of conversation. In London, the Switch Off offers quiet, phone-free sessions for women, while the Logging Off Club has groups in several UK cities and abroad. In Bath, Nicola MacDonald and Laura Hughes started the Digital Detox Club in early 2025, hosting events at The Den cafe. "We've been struck by the diversity of attendees, from university students to retirees, which suggests this isn't a niche concern," says MacDonald. "It reflects a broader cultural fatigue with constant connectivity."
Craft classes also offer phone-free options. Native Hands runs basketry, pottery, and bushcraft in Sussex woodland. Dan Palmer launched Airplane Mode at his Leeds restaurant Eat Your Greens in November 2025, using a swear jar system. "Every time I catch anyone on their phone, I fine them 50p," he says. Fines go to Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers. "So far, I've issued three fines – and one of them was for me!" Nadia Butt of Inner Canvas hosts art sessions for women in Reading, where phones are silenced and placed in a "phone spa." "Framing it as something collective removes the anxiety around it," she says.
Spas, Saunas, and Book Clubs
Spas are increasingly enforcing phone bans. Bath Thermae Spa requires guests to lock devices in pouches, and Careys Manor in the New Forest offers a digital detox break with a phone amnesty box. The Bothy at Heckfield Place, Hampshire, has banned phones since 2023. "Seeing someone on their phone in a space dedicated to restoration felt out of alignment," says spa operations director Reka Seres-Erdei.
Sauna culture is also embracing phone-free time. Ryan Haynes, 34, a regular at London's Community Sauna Baths, says, "All of my best ideas in the past two years have been while sitting in a sauna. Everyone needs to slow down to hear what's going on in their brain." Kelly Wickson, owner of Chapter 34 bookshop in Shoreham-by-Sea, hosts a monthly sauna book club at Nomadic Sauna. "It will ruin your phone; you've got no choice," she says. The club sells out every Friday evening. Silent Book Club, with about 2,000 chapters worldwide, encourages "Put down your phone, pick up a book."
Pubs, Bars, and Club Nights
The Roses of Elagabalus in Dalston, east London, places stickers on phone cameras. "The idea of having no phones is that you would walk into the Roses, leave the outside world behind and enter this fantasy world where you can just enjoy the moment," says co-owner Camille Jetzer. Esmeralda's Mayfair and the Spy Bar at Raffles London also use stickers. Samuel Smith's pubs have banned phones since 2019 across 200+ locations. At the Barrel in Bude, Cornwall, phone users must donate £1 to charity. The Butchers Arms in Herne Bay, Kent, has been phone-free since 2005; owner Martyn Hillier says a "disgruntled look" suffices, or customers chant "Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb" until offenders relent.
In Woking, Kim and Mike Jarred run Beyond the Screen, a monthly phone-free social at the Olive Tree. "Pubs are closing down and we're just staying in our houses with our phones in front of our faces rather than getting out and meeting people," Kim says. Manchester club Amber's, opened in December 2024, has a no-photo policy with stickers; violators are asked to leave. Similar policies exist at London's Fold and Fabric, Bristol's Lakota and Moon Club, and Leicester's Doppler Studio. Offgrid, a monthly day party in Soho co-founded by Stormzy, seals phones in pouches. Annie Mac notes a palpable shift at her phone-free events: "People were more present and louder. They whooped, they hollered, they whistled. They reacted to the tunes in a visceral way."
Off-Grid Stays and Remote Retreats
Hector Hughes founded Unplugged after a life-changing silent retreat in the Himalayas. Launched in 2020, Unplugged now has 60 digital detox cabins across the UK and Catalonia. Each cabin has a lock box with a padlock and a sealed key envelope, plus a Polaroid camera and a Nokia phone for emergencies. Unyoked cabins run on solar power with no wifi and varying "spice signal" levels; Shacks offers off-grid cabins with lockboxes. For a unique stay, Lilypod in Devon is a floating retreat with solar-powered pods, no TV, wifi, or signal, but board games and a king-sized bed.
Florence Achery's Yoga Retreats and More hosts "Retreat like it's 1999" breaks in Lancashire and Cumbria. Guests hand over devices and enjoy meals, walks, yoga, and star gazing. "They're in charge, not their phones," says Achery, who provides battery-powered alarm clocks to encourage phone-free bedrooms. The Sharpham Trust in Devon hosts mindfulness retreats, and in Suffolk, sisters Lauretta and Sharon Gavin run the Detox Barn with vegan food, yoga, and sound baths. "For many people it's a huge relief to step away from their phones for 48 hours," Lauretta says. "People open up, share stories and properly connect."
