Local charity and SoGlos Charity of the Year, the Hollie Gazzard Trust, is on a mission to stamp out domestic violence, stalking and knife crime for good — and its groundbreaking Hollie Guard app is one of the ways it's helping to do just that.
The app provides valuable reassurance to anyone who feels vulnerable in a variety of situations, such as walking alone, meeting someone new for the first time or feeling threatened in their own home.
Used and endorsed by more than nine police forces across the UK, the Hollie Guard app has accreditation from the official police security initiative, Secure by Design — and evidence from the app has recently helped to secure a conviction in court. SoGlos rounds up 10 of Hollie Guard's unique features and how they help keep people safe.
Sends alerts with just a tap or shake
The Hollie Guard app effectively turns your mobile phone into a personal safety device, sending automatic alerts to your emergency contacts with just a shake or a tap.
There are two alert profiles which can be selected — a stealth mode, which mimics your phone's lock screen if you're in a situation where you need to be discreet; and a deterrent mode which can flash your torch, sound an alarm and make it obvious an alert has been triggered, to help draw attention to you and attract help.
Notifies multiple emergency contacts
Hollie Guard users can add multiple emergency contacts to the app to be notified if an alert is activated. They could be friends, family members or even professional contacts, depending on when and how the app is used, so users and their loved ones can rest assured that they'll get an instant notification whenever help is needed.
There's no limit to how many contacts can be added, so if one person isn't available to assist straight away, someone else will be. You can even organise emergency contacts into groups that can be contacted at different times during the day — so you can allocate a colleague group for when you're at work and a family group for when you're at home, for example.
Gathers evidence automatically
When an alert is activated, Hollie Guard automatically collects real-time location data, audio and video footage and sends it to your emergency contacts.
All the evidence captured is saved in the cloud, rather than on an individual device, so it can be accessed even if your phone is lost or destroyed. The information and footage Hollie Guard captures can even be used as evidence in a court of law — with evidence collected on the app recently helping to secure a conviction in an assault case.
Detects falls
The 'man down' feature in Hollie Guard allows the app to detect if the user has had a fall or stopped moving for an extended period of time.
Ideal if you're out running, walking alone or working at height, it provides peace of mind that if you had an accident, your loved ones would be alerted and able to find you.
Tracks meetings
Ideal for lone working, first dates and potentially risky encounters, the meeting tracker function in Hollie Guard lets users set a duration for their meeting and asks them to mark themself as safe before the time has elapsed.
If the timer expires, the user's emergency contacts will be sent an alert with their real-time location, which is updated every five seconds, so they can pinpoint their whereabouts and call for help if necessary.
Highlights 'Ask For Angela' venues
Nationwide inititative 'Ask For Angela' provides training for venue staff on how to assist customers in uncomfortable situations discreetly and without causing a scene — be that a date gone wrong, unwanted attention from another customer, or more dangerous situations including stalking or spiking.
Hollie Guard highlights venues which are part of the 'Ask For Angela' scheme, so users can make sure they're in a safe space with trained staff who can help them, if the need arises.
Tracks journeys
Hollie Guard's journey tracker can provide reassurance when travelling solo or ridesharing, letting emergency contacts know where you're going from and to.
Users can add their destination and an estimated arrival time — and if they haven't arrived by the expected time, the app will send an automatic alert to their emergency contacts with their exact location.
Logs incidents and alerts for future reference
The reports feature in Hollie Guard allows users to record incidents and upload supporting evidence — such as photos — which is categorised, time-stamped and geo-tagged automatically.
These incident reports can be used to create a log of events, which could serve as evidence at a later date. Interventions like these can even create a break in the domestic abuse homicide timeline, allowing action to be taken before an abuser's behavious escalates to dangerous levels.
Costs nothing
Despite its state-of-the-art features, the Hollie Guard app is free to use.
The app has over 500,000 users, making it the UK's largest personal safety app, providing a vital lifeline to anyone who needs it — and creating an incredible legacy for its namesake, Hollie Gazzard.
Offers enhanced protection for those who want it
While Hollie Guard is free, the app offers enhanced protection for people who want it through Hollie Guard Extra — which includes police-approved 24/7 monitoring from the Hollie Guard alert response centre — for £7.99 per month.
The response centre can see the user's location and access any audio and video captured by the app when an alert is activated, so responders can select the appropriate reaction, from checking in with the user to contacting the emergency services. There's also a Hollie Guard for Business option, which offers flexible licenses depending on a company's needs, so staff can enjoy the reassurance Hollie Guard provides.
For more information, or to sign up for Hollie Guard Extra, visit hollieguard.com.
