When is the best time to phone your friends, or family members? It's tricky: no one wants to disturb or interrupt others at a bad time, but it's important to keep in touch. Maybe you have a child who's just gone off to University or College. Maybe you worry about more elderly family member being lonely. We often end up saying something like “Sorry, am I interrupting you?” early on in the conversation. Walk Together can help.

When you start a walk, we send a little notification to others in your groups that you're now walking. Maybe they're busy and can't join you right now. Maybe they're going to be free in 5 minutes. But you're now giving them the option: they're in control of joining you when it's best for them. This is very different from phoning them.

While you're waiting for others to join you, just carry on with what you were doing: listening to music, taking the dog outside, making your dinner. There's no need to stare at the screen; we'll play you a little fanfare when someone joins you. You can walk with several people at once, so maybe a few family members join you as it becomes convenient for them.

It's all very fluid and spontaneous: no checking of diaries, no sending round links to meeting rooms, no scheduled start and end times, and no fixed list of attendees! Just taking a walk together, when it suits each of you.