Path Community
1883. Harry Mead
Harry Mead, from London, developed the ‘Path Community’ app which allows users to send their journey to a trusted friend who can track them until they get home safely.
Restaurateur Harry developed the app after learning how many of his female friends felt uneasy about travelling home alone. To help build it, he retrained in coding and worked closely with female volunteers on its design. ‘Path Community’ app provides anyone walking home at night with a monitored route on their phone and has access to nominated emergency contacts, which it is able to notify if a user deviates more than 40 metres from their route or stops for longer than three minutes, and does not respond to a notification checking if they are ok. App users can also report areas with insufficient street lighting or other issues that make them feel unsafe. After being trialled by 500 people including Metropolitan police officers in Southwark and Lambeth in South London, the app was officially launched in December 2021, and Harry is shortly also launching a function to keep people safe whilst dating on the ‘Path Community’ app.
In a personal letter to Harry, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“Thank you for all that you are doing through ‘Path Community’ to keep people safe on our streets.
“Your app has created a practical way of protecting women walking home at night by allowing trusted friends to track their journey. You have also built a community which is confronting violence against women by engaging men and helping them to look out for their loved ones.”
Harry said:
“It’s a real honour to be named a Point of Light, particularly when I look at the incredible individuals who have come before me. I am extremely lucky that I get to work with an amazing team every day who continue to go over and above to make ‘Path’ what it is.
“The issue of personal safety and male violence against all communities is something that requires a huge effort, educational reform and societal shift. It is amazing to see so many people getting into the sector who continue to lead incredible innovations that will hopefully keep us all much safer from in the years to come. So it is even more touching to be recognised amongst such an inspiring community.
“Whilst ‘Path’ isn’t the sole answer, with a strong educational platform and infrastructural change, I think we can at least start to head in the right direction.”