Josie Allan & David Lamb. |
A few Thursdays ago, I joined Josie Allan, Regional
Coordinator, South of England and David Lamb, another volunteer, at our
Kingston Appeal Day in the town centre outside BHS, one of our partner
organisations, and in the store. It was
great to see all the BHS staff wearing our Missing People t-shirts and taking
part in raising awareness for our appeals.
We had two main objectives. Firstly, to raise awareness of what Missing
People does and to talk to shoppers about two local people who have been
missing since 2009; Simon Hickson last seen in Surbiton and Ola Akinbowale last
seen in Kingston.
Secondly we asked people to sign up to Child Rescue Alerts; a system designed to alert the public, as quickly as possible, to an
abduction or other high risk child disappearance. People who have registered
with a mobile phone number and their post code will receive a text in the event
of an Alert being issued in their area, asking them to report any sighting to
the police.
It was a busy half-term Thursday, with many families out
and about, suburbia and sunshine. I saw
my own home town in a different light, especially as I’m usually the one
avoiding charity reps! We spent time in
the store and outside in Eden Walk.
One lady unexpectedly told me that her own son had gone
missing twice, though he had returned both times. I expressed sympathy and asked if she’d been
in touch with Missing People at all. She’d never heard of us, she had only contacted the police. I talked about our free 24 hour helpline -116000- and the support we could offer if ever needed. She took a card, though she hoped she
wouldn’t have to use it. She was someone
who had seemed disinterested initially and slightly put on the spot, but she was happy to chat.
A young woman in a group was concerned she would be
expected to join the search if she received an Alert and said she would feel
responsible. Her friend corrected her,
explaining that she would simply have to alert the police if she spotted the
child. All three signed up. Another person was concerned her phone was too
old to receive the text and that it wouldn’t show the photo. I said it would probably be OK, and she would
get a description anyway – and if not, she will also receive the alerts via email.
It felt like real grassroots work; a sort of canvassing. There is a genuinely supportive feeling about
Missing People. Someone had heard about us on TV, but many people had never
heard of us – of these half were definitely interested to hear more. As a Social Media Volunteer, I found it hard
work in a non-virtual world to get information across, but perhaps you get a
more realistic idea of the cross section of views and interest levels in an
ordinary Surrey town.
Penned by Fiona Eddleston
Social Media Volunteer.
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