Walksafe has been active in Manchester for a few months now, here is how to use it to keep yourself safe over Christmas.
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00:00Now, it might not be obvious by looking behind me, but winter is here.
00:03Now, that can mean a lot of great things.
00:05The Christmas markets are on, there are ice rinks in the city, lights up everywhere, and
00:09there's a real sense of joy and goodwill.
00:11But unfortunately, at night time, it means darker, colder, and longer nights, and that
00:16can be intimidating for anyone who has to walk through the city alone.
00:19I did a little video last week on some of the best ways you can make sure you feel safe.
00:23Stuff like keeping headphones out, sticking to crowded areas, sharing your location with
00:27friends.
00:28There's an app that's been released this year that should be able to help you keep as safe
00:31as possible.
00:32The app is WalkSafe, and it's been operating for a couple of months now.
00:35It's user-friendly and functional, and it should give you just that extra level of protection.
00:39Now, I tested it out earlier, and here's everything you need to know about how it works.
00:43You need to give the app access to your location data and notifications, because that's what's
00:47going to help you stay in contact with your friends.
00:49The next step is getting some friends to sign up as trusted people.
00:52These are going to be people who will be able to see your location when you're sharing it,
00:55and should be people who you know you can trust to have their phone handy when you need
00:58them to.
00:59Then you plot your journey.
01:00If you're heading somewhere random, you pick a destination, and the app chooses a route
01:02for you that it believes will be safest.
01:05Trusted people will track your location and get a notification if you fail to make it
01:08to where you're heading.
01:09HomeSafe is pretty similar, but obviously you're heading home instead of to a random
01:12place.
01:13It doesn't necessarily give you a route, and your friends can't see your location at all
01:15times.
01:16But if you fail to make it to your home on time that you've set, they will get a notification
01:20to check in on you.
01:21For those who just fancy a ramble, there's a follow me option where there's no set destination
01:25you're simply sharing your location for a set period of time.
01:28All of these should give you some extra comfort and safety.
01:30There's also a map that has listed safe spaces and opening hours for those safe spaces if
01:35you're really feeling uncomfortable and feel like you need to hide away somewhere, as well
01:38as an SOS option at the top of the screen as a last ditch security measure.
01:42We know this isn't perfect, and in an ideal world, you wouldn't have to worry about this
01:46at all.
01:47But WalkSafe is user-friendly, it is functional, it is helpful, and I've had no issues with
01:51it at all since downloading it.
01:53So I do recommend giving it a try, share it with your friends, and just see if it works
01:57for you.
01:58That's all, stay safe, follow Manchester World for more.