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Organisations highlight International Missing Children's Day

Ahead of International Missing Children’s Day (25 May 2010), key agencies involved in the issue of missing children have announced that they will be highlighting the day with various different activities.

The charity Missing People will unveil their new three year strategy which will enable more missing children and vulnerable adults to get help when they need it, and improve the support services available for families.

Stephen Fry, a Vice Patron of the charity has lent his support to the plan, saying “When people go missing they can be incredibly vulnerable, often cut off from any kind of support. It is vital that they know where to turn, and commitments in this new plan for missing people will ensure that everyone in this position can access the support they so desperately need.”

As part of commemorations for International Missing Children's Day, the National Policing Improvement Agency will hold a re-launch event for Child Rescue Alert, a nationally supported scheme that enables police forces to broadcast through the media information about a child who has been abducted and who may be at risk of serious harm.

Speakers at the event will include Ken Thomson, the father of missing Andrew Thomson who will have cycled across Europe in a bid to raise awareness of his son’s case and the thousands of other missing children across the world.

In the evening, supporters of Parents & Abducted Children Together are invited to a viewing of an unprecedented collection of balloon drawings, the balloon being the symbol of International Missing Children's Day. Over 100 international celebrities, including Kirk Douglas, Whoopi Goldberg, Sir Roger Moore, Hugh Grant, Andrew Marr and Robert Pattinson, have let their imagination run riot. Their unique balloon designs and drawings will be auctioned online through Mission Fish on E-Bay that evening.

Martin Houghton-Brown, Chief Executive of the charity Missing People said: “The plight of missing children cannot be solved by any one person or organisation. I am therefore delighted to see supporters, charities and law enforcement agencies come together for the common purpose they all share.

“Every opportunity to raise awareness of this issue is a valuable and a sad reminder of how much more there is still to be achieved.”

Other organisations marking the day include Missing Children Europe and Forever Searching. For more information on all International Missing Children’s Day activity please visit www.childrescuealert.com

ENDS.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:

Missing People – pr@missingpeople.org.uk / 0208 392 4510 / Out-of-hours 07872 600178.

NOTES TO EDITOR Additional quotes and information for your use:

INTERNATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN’S DAY

The purpose of International Missing Children's Day (IMCD) is to raise awareness of all missing children in the UK and across the world. Missing Children's Day was first recognised in the USA following the disappearance of 6 year old Etan Patz on 25th May 1979 who was last seen on a street corner in New York on his way to school. The National Missing Children's Day was first declared by President Ronald Reagan and has been recognised by every US government since and it is now recognised internationally.

ABOUT MISSING PEOPLE (Registered Charity No. 1020419)

Missing People provides support for missing children, vulnerable adults and families left in limbo. The charity offers families of the missing specialist advice and practical support as well as searching - securing publicity that could end years of heartache.

To make a donation to Missing People call Freefone 0800 2 98 78 58 or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk/donate

Missing People is supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery from across the UK. People’s Postcode Lottery support has reached more than £2 million to benefit charities in England. Please sign up to play the Peoples Postcode Lottery now at www.postcodelottery.co.uk  or call 08081091010

Missing People is a proud member of the English Coalition of Runaway Children (ECRC), Missing Children Europe and is a pleased to be a registered member of The Helplines Association

ABOUT NPIA

Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the NPIA, said: "May 25 is a sombre day in the policing calendar but a time when we stop to remember vulnerable young children who remain missing. International Missing Children's Day is recognised by governments, agencies, charities and law enforcers in eight countries across four continents. It's a serious, worldwide problem we're helping to tackle."

The NPIA is a single national organisation created to support effective policing. It provides expertise in areas as diverse as information and communications technology, support for information and intelligence sharing, core police processes, managing change and recruiting, developing and deploying people. NPIA works for the police service and is governed by a tripartite board comprising ACPO, APA, Home Office and independent members.

The National Missing Person's Bureau (NMPB) became part of the NPIA in April 2008. It provides a free cross-matching service to police officers to assist with matching up details of missing persons cases with unidentified persons or body cases in the UK. It also maintains a database of: all persons reported as missing in the UK for 72 hours or more; all foreign nationals reported as missing in the UK; all UK residents reported as missing abroad; all unidentified bodies/persons found in the UK.

The NMPB manages the UK element of the Missing Kids website, a unique tool designed to help the police recover missing and abducted children across the world. The UK website forms a chapter of a global network of 17 countries. To access the Missing Kids website or to find out more about the NPIA's NMPB, please go to www.childrescuealert.com  

ABOUT PACT

"Child abduction is a parent's worst nightmare.  Nothing can prepare you for the utter horror. I hope that this year's events will not only highlight the plight of missing children all over the world, but also give real impetus to our common efforts to get governments, police forces and the voluntary sector to work together effectively to tackle this scourge of modern society". Lady Catherine Meyer, PACT

PACT is Parents & Abducted Children Together.  We are a non-profit organization dedicated to the location and retrieval of missing and abducted children.  We concentrate our efforts on reforming systems and policies that do not adequately protect children.  We do not take government money because we wish to remain an independent voice.  No other charity in our field employs the same mix of advocacy, action and research.  

We were founded in 1999 by Lady Catherine Meyer and are registered as a charity in both the UK and the US We are an associate of the US-based International Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Our initial mission - to fight parental child abduction across international borders – has over time expanded to embrace children who go missing for whatever reason.  All our energy is concentrated on finding ways better to protect children. 

Images available:

• Missing People logo
• Generic image library representing the work of Missing People

Available for interview

• Missing People spokesperson

KEY FACTS

• An estimated 250,000 reports of missing people are made to UK police forces each year. Around two-thirds of these concern young people under the age of 18.
• Around 123,000 calls were made to Missing People helplines last year.
• Around 28,000 calls were made to Missing People’s Message Home service last year.
• Around 64,000 calls were made to Missing People’s Runaway Helpline service last year.
• 40,000,000 hits were received to www.missingpeople.org.uk in its first year.
• More than 77% of the people the charity publicised last year have now been resolved.

CURRENT PROJECTS:

• Missing People is supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery from across the UK. People’s Postcode Lottery support has reached more than £2 million to benefit charities in England. Please sign up to play the Peoples Postcode Lottery now at www.postcodelottery.co.uk or call 08081091010
• In 2008 Missing People published Living in Limbo – the first research of its kind in the UK documenting the experiences of, and impacts on, families of missing people. The report was launched with the support of humanitarian and author Terry Waite CBE.
• Last year the charity launched the first confidential free-to-text (SMS) service for missing children. Runaway Helpline has now received more than 2,000 texts from vulnerable children.
• Missing People won its first ‘Third Sector Excellence’ Award for communications, marketing and campaigning in September 2009. Missing People was nominated alongside ActionAid, Brandon Trust, Crimestoppers, RNID and the Prince’s Trust in the Best Annual Report category. The award recognised ‘the charity that best communicated its organisation’s mission, operations and achievements’.