At the time of writing some £1,650 has been raised for Missing People, an amount I never anticipated and one which we as a family have found personally supportive in addition to the knowledge that many missing kids will be helped as a result.
It has been worth the bizarre hair cut and the anxiety that preceded it. Over the past 12 months Missing People have supported our family in particular with various publicity events searching for Andrew and also through newly introduced family support days, a new online forum for families with missing loved ones and the provision of a new telephone counselling service for family members. More importantly to us, we hope that many other kids thinking of going missing or in trouble because they have gone missing will be helped through Missing People's services.
It never occurred to us to discuss the topic of going missing with our children and to anyone reading this with children, please do so and ensure that they know the free number 116000 or have it stored in their phone. Like any of the risks our kids can face it will probably never be needed, we certainly hope it is not, but it could help avoid the absolute nightmare we have been through as a family if it is known as widely as possible.
Thank you once again for your generous support, Kevin