Hollie Guard app can protect the vulnerable

It took an unbearable tragedy for a man to come up with his own solution and invent an app to save lives. Nick Gazzard is the creator of the ‘Hollie Guard’ app, named after his 20-year-old daughter who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend.

Nick was visiting the Island over the weekend to attend a burlesque cabaret evening organised, by prolific charity fund-raiser, Peter May, at the Ocean View Hotel, Shanklin, on Saturday.

He explained: “Hollie was involved in an unhealthy relationship which she tried to end but, within three days, her former partner walked into the salon where she worked and stabbed her to death.

“Myself and my wife wanted to do something positive, so set up the Hollie Gazzard Trust. We wanted to raise people’s awareness of the issues Hollie faced, as we didn’t understand the extreme danger she was in.

“We eventually came up with the idea of a personal safety app which is now used by 800,000 people and has already saved so many lives.
“It can be downloaded for any smartphone and is free. Just holding down the hexagon button, for 3-6 seconds, will set-off an alert and activates the phone’s camera, sending a message and recording to your pre-defined emergency contacts.

“When raising an alert, HollieGuard can automatically start your smartphone’s camera and microphone to capture real-time evidence of the situation around you. Your emergency contacts can access this evidence real-time, as well as being saved in the cloud for later use. It can be used by anyone of either gender aged 6-90.”

Peter created the ‘To Be In Her Shoes’ charity three-and-a-half years ago, and is regularly seen fund-raising in his high heels across the Island. Originally, he raised funds for WightDASH which supported victims of domestic violence, but, sadly, the charity ran out of funding.

He said: “My wife originally saw Nick being interviewed on television and thought the app was an amazing idea, so I got involved with spreading the word on the Island. It’s my aim to get HollieGuard known to everyone in every corner over here. “My fund-raising is a little crazy but it’s about making people understand why I am doing it.”

During the cabaret, which featured burlesque chair Dance IoW, as well as Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams tribute acts, Peter was on his treadmill walking to raise extra funds. The effort paid off with £1,208 coming from the challenge with another £574 on a balloon pop raffle, and £209 in the charity pots, for a total of £1,991.

To see the full interview with Nick and Peter, visit iw.observer/hollieguard.