Missing People Reg charity no: 1020419

Missing People, the UK charity working with young runaways, missing and unidentified people, their families and others who care for them, says it provides ongoing support to around 2,000 families each year and directly finds 10 missing people each week.

Paul Tuohy, Chief Executive of the charity said: “Everyone hopes that Madeleine Mc Cann's disappearance will have a swift and happy ending. However, in the meantime we believe the awareness raised has helped to educate the public that ‘missing' is a social issue that could affect every one of us.”

An estimated 210,000 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.

Mr Tuohy continues: “Madeleine's disappearance has prompted many people to support a ‘Fighting Fund', which we applaud. However, we do not want the public to lose sight of the fact that for £2.5million each year (our annual expenditure) we support thousands of families, directly find more than 500 missing people and provide vital support to 4000 young runaways. We now need the public to share support for all missing people.”

You can make a donation to the charity by calling the helpline 0500 700 700 or visit www.missingpeople.org.uk.

Video appeal for missing Luke Durbin. Check out other podcasts from Missing Persons on Yahoo! Video here.

Reproduced with permission of Missing People. Copyright © Missing People 2006 all rights reserved.