Draft:Box Walks

Box Walks

Box Walks telephone boxes on Richmond Green

Box Walks[1] is a registered charity in the UK[2]. The charity restores London's telephone boxes and uses them as destination points on environmentally themed walks. Each telephone box is allocated a theme with its own gamified content and activities. Members of the public can download the Box Walks app for free and unlock the content by visiting each telephone box on a Box Walk. [3]

The charity's vision is to bring Britain's urban grade II listed telephone boxes out of retirement, and once again use them to create connection and community. It does this by:

  • Protecting and maintaining Britain’s grade II listed telephone boxes, preserving Britain's architectural and cultural heritage for future generations to enjoy.
  • Enabling communities to come together - walk, get fit and make new friends – while enjoying and interacting with what their local borough has to offer.
  • Accelerating environmental action and providing communities with activities they can complete to reduce their environmental footprint, while collecting points and competing with other app members.[4]

Box Walks' first suite of walks were launched in the Borough of Richmond Upon Thames in June 2026. The charity owns and manages 9 boxes in the Borough of Richmond Upon Thames and provides 8 walking routes[5].

Co-founders and Trustees

Box Walks was co-founded by Emma Howcroft and Harry Guest in February 2025. Both co-founders serve as trustees to the charity. They were joined by a third trustees, Gosia Henderson, in April 2025.[6]

Emma Howcroft

Emma Howcroft is the chair and co-founder of Box Walks. She is a transformational sustainability and procurement leader and comes with 22 years' experience working in multinational companies. Her recent projects include the design and implementation of a sustainable sourcing programme for a life sciences company and a sustainable plastics programme for a FTSE 100 pharma company. Emma has a Master's in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge and sits on various nature-related advocacy groups which help organisations embed natural capital consideration into their business processes.

At Box Walks, Emma is leading the effort to transition the charity from proof of concept to operational launch, establishing the governance, funding, and compliance structures needed to scale up its impact. She also works with the other trustees to create the content for the walks and activities.

Harry Guest

Harry Guest is the digital brains behind Box Walks and is the other co-founder. A software engineer based in the UK, Harry enjoys solving problems and creating user-friendly tools that make life easier, with a knack for exploring how technology can improve the way we live and work.

Outside of his work and advocacy, Harry is a creative at heart. He is an aspiring writer who loves crafting engaging stories, exploring new worlds through books, and brainstorming fresh ideas with his book club. When not writing, Harry can often be found behind a camera, capturing the beauty of the world around him, or in the kitchen experimenting with recipes that reflect his love of food and culture.

Gosia (Malgorzata) Henderson

Gosia Henderson is a coach, consultant and entrepreneur. She has a corporate background covering operational excellence, capability building, engagement and organisational change. She completed the Sustainability Leadership programme at the University of Cambridge, and applies this experience to support sustainable and regenerative transformation.

At Box Walks, Gosia focuses on creating nature-centred content along with experiences that spark curiosity, deepen connection with nature and gently nudge more conscious choices, bringing joy and a sense of play into the sustainability movement. She is particularly interested in biomimicry, drawing on nature's strategies and processes to help bring nature's presence and voice more clearly into the human world.[7]

Telephone Boxes

# Phone box name Phone box theme Phone box location
1 Bertie Biodiversity Richmond Green, Richmond
2 Cara Climate change Twickenham Green, Twickenham
3 Freddy Fungi The Vineyard, Richmond
4 Ralph Resource circularity Twickenham Green, Twickenham
5 Sophie Sustainable food Richmond Green, Richmond
6 Ted Climate hope Ted Lasso store, Richmond
7 Tilly Trees Kings Road, Richmond
8 Walter Water Kew Green, Kew
9 Wendy Wendy Church Road, Barnes

Funding Sources

Box Donors

Box Walks is primarily funded by Box Donors. These donors agree to contribute an amount equal to that needed to restore a physical phone box. Box Walks currently has 5 Box Donors:

Other Sources of Funding

Box Walks also relies on ad hoc donations through its Crowdfunder page[8]. These donations help the charity maintain the phone boxes after their initial restoration.

Future Plans

Raworth, K (2025), The Evolving Doughnut. Doughnut Economics Action Lab, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.64981/XGRX2738

Box Walks plans to expand into Central London next and create a suite of walks based on Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics framework, as shown on the right. The inner ring on the diagram represents a social foundation and the outer ring represents an ecological ceiling (or planetary boundary).

There are 21 social and planetary boundaries. Box Walks aims to create two circular walks around central London: a smaller walk representing 12 social boundaries, for example, a phone box about food and its importance and a larger larger walk representing the 9 planetary boundaries as well as a tenth phone box introducing Doughnut Economics. The aim will be to help urban ramblers understand how to operate in a safe and just space for society and planet, while having lots of fun and exploring the capital.

References

  1. ^ "Box Walks".
  2. ^ "Charity Commission: Box Walks".
  3. ^ "New London telephone box-themed charity to launch in Richmond borough". 2 April 2026.
  4. ^ "Box Walks: About Us".
  5. ^ "Box Walks Walking Routes".
  6. ^ "Charity Commission: Trustees".
  7. ^ "Box Walks: Trustees".
  8. ^ "Restoring our iconic red phone boxes with a twist".

Content Disclaimer

Informasi ini disarikan dari Wikipedia dan disajikan kembali untuk tujuan edukasi. Konten tersedia di bawah lisensi CC BY-SA 3.0. Kami tidak bertanggung jawab atas ketidakakuratan data yang bersumber dari kontribusi publik tersebut.

  1. The information displayed on this website is sourced in part or in whole from Wikipedia and has been adapted for the purpose of restating it. We strive to provide accurate and relevant information, however:
  2. There is no guarantee of absolute accuracy. Wikipedia is an open, collaborative project that can be edited by anyone, so information is subject to change.
  3. It is not intended to constitute professional advice. The content displayed is for informational and educational purposes only. For important decisions (e.g., medical, legal, or financial), please consult a professional.
  4. Content copyright. Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). This means that content may be reused with appropriate attribution and shared under a similar license.
  5. Responsible use. Any risk arising from the use of information from this website is entirely the responsibility of the user.