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Every 90 seconds, someone goes missing in the UK, a secret network of 2,000 volunteers is quietly working behind the scenes this Christmas to help bring them home
One person goes missing every 90 seconds in the UK, but a secret network of helpers is working to bring them home over Christmas.
For some of the 170,000 people who vanish every year a public appeal is not the best way to find them, especially if they are escaping domestic abuse or suffering with their mental health. So Missing People, the charity the Mirror is supporting for our Christmas campaign this year, relies on a 2,000-strong network of individuals and organisations, which they call their “secret helpers.”
Officially known as their safeguarding briefing network, they consist of kind people in libraries, soup kitchens and places of worship who can look out for and approach those they know are missing and in need of help. Staff at health drop-in centres, bus and rail stations, shopping centres, postmen and women and street pastors are also part of the group.
Helplines manager at Missing People Martha McBrier said: “These public-facing organisations are the types of services a missing person might use. Last week we distributed our safeguarding briefing to a library and within half an hour one of our helpers called us to tell us a missing person was there.
“We were able to call the police, do the welfare checks to make sure they were OK and close the missing case. Libraries are wonderful. They do so much for the community. When it works, it works absolutely beautifully. We send a briefing to an organisation if they’re in a locale that a person might be in and we issue them with guidance on what to do if they get the chance to engage with that missing person.”
Donate online: Visit this link or head to www.missingpeople.org.uk/mirror – read why we’re supporting this campaign here.
Text: To donate £5 Text HOPE5 to 70660 – To donate £10 Text HOPE10 to 70660 – To donate £15 Text HOPE15 to 70660
Terms & Conditions: *Text costs £5/£10 or £15 plus network charge. Missing People receives 100% of your donation. Obtain bill payer’s permission. Charity No England and Wales: 1020419, Scotland: SC047419. Missing People will send regular updates via text and may contact you at any time to ask for your contact preference.
Post: Please include your name and address and make cheques payable to ‘Missing People’ via free post:
Freepost Plus RRKY–XSEC–XAEC. – Missing People – Roebuck House – 284 Upper Richmond Road West – London – SW14 7JE
How your donation will help: £5 could help a missing child reach support – 11 could answer an urgent Helpline call from someone who is missing – £33 could give three families advice and help from a Support Worker – £110 could pay for two vital Counselling sessions to help a family to cope with the toughest of all losses
How to contact Missing People – free and confidential: Call: 116 000. Text: 116 000. Email: 116000@missingpeople.org.uk
How to contact Samaritans for mental health support: Call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
For people who are struggling with their mental health it can come as a surprise that their families are worried about them. Martha added: “Sometimes a missing person will say, ‘I didn’t think anyone cared enough to report me missing.’ One young man said that to us recently, and we talked to him and made him realise people do care.”
Anyone can join the network to help missing people. Martha said: “Our helpers are people who care about others who might have even had an experience of someone going missing in their own lives. They keep an eye out and one of the best things they can do is call us or the police so we can get them help and make sure they’re safe.
“Sometimes helpers approach us because we have information on our website about it and other times we visit organisations to do training sessions, such as homeless shelters. Individuals can of course join our network too and keep an eye out for a missing person, they can sign up via our website.”
London Search and Rescue is one organisation that is signed up to the charity’s Safeguarding Briefing Network that helps missing people. Senior team leader James Walker explained how it works.
He said: “We receive covert live updates regarding vulnerable individuals across London. This gives our search managers heightened awareness of live missing people cases, providing valuable insights in their regular engagement with the police and members of the other emergency services.
“This allows more proactive engagement with those key partners and greater operational readiness within the team in the event we are deployed by the police to search for that particular missing person. Search Managers can also share those briefings with our search technicians who have extensive training on missing person behaviours, clue consciousness and search techniques,” James added.
“This means they are well-equipped to identify the individual should they cross paths with them in the course of their daily lives, particularly if living or working in that local community within London, and take action to help safeguard that individual.”
You can find out more about the Missing People Safeguarding Briefing Partner network by visiting the website here.
