The UK’s leading security provider, Mitre, has joined forces with the makers of a female-founded app that aims to make women safer.
Emma Kay founded WalkSafe in 2020 and brings police crime statistics and community reported data into maps to help people plot a safe route home.
The app had already been downloaded thousands of times when it shot to prominence following the tragic kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021.
The tech firm recently announced a game-changing partnership with Mitie which takes their safety mission a step forward with the support of their control centre.
Kay said: “I started WalkSafe to empower people to take precautionary measures to protect their own safety, something I feel strongly about after experiencing harassment in the street. With Mitie, we will take WalkSafe one step further with the support of their connected control centre.
“With app users surging since the clocks changed, we want to do everything we can to ensure people can get home safely in the dark.
“Mitie is bringing its security intelligence services so together, we can add a layer of protection that has not been available before.
“With this new partnership, we hope to revolutionise the way that employers can take care of their colleagues, ultimately making them safer.
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“I feel so incredibly lucky (and I know the WalkSafe team agree) to have the support of the UK’s leading security company behind us, sharing in our passion to make the world a safer place.
“Together we will roll out Safer Communities and ensure nobody has to walk home alone feeling unsafe again.”
A recent survey found 44 per cent of women said they felt unsafe walking in the dark.
Jason Towse, managing director of business services at Mitie, said: “Our friends, families and colleagues should all be able to travel safely, whether on transport networks or simply walking home, yet violence against women and girls and minority groups is increasingly prevalent across the UK.
“A fifth of the UK’s workforce expect their employer to help get them to and from work safely and we want to help organisations protect their people. In developing this support in partnership with WalkSafe, we want to help tackle this epidemic and enable safer communities where we can all live and work.”
The partnership will enhance the WalkSafe Pro app and offer features such as access to trained operatives for reassurance and advice and real-time emergency support when needed.