National Missing Persons Helpline
Encyclopedia
Missing People is a British charity that offers a lifeline for the 250,000 people who run away and go missing each year.
NMPH Following the high profile disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh
from Fulham
in July 1986, two sisters Janet Newman and Mary Asprey, became the co-founders of National Missing Persons Helpline. With no news of Suzy's whereabouts media attention moved to the apparent lack of support for missing persons' families, such as Paul and Diane Lamplugh. Mary with her sister, Janet Newman, established the Trust's initial work on missing people.
The helpline (1990–92)
From a bedroom at the sisters' home in East Sheen
, south west London
, a start-up service was formed in early 1990. The Freefone number, 0500 700 700, remains the same today. Meanwhile the Suzy Lamplugh Trust moved towards issues surrounding personal safety and safety in the workplace. Initially Mary and Janet and a small team of volunteers simply comforted callers to the helpline. However, they soon realised families wanted more than just telephone support. In 1992, having re-mortgaged their houses, Mary and Janet applied to register National Missing Persons Helpline (NMPH) as a charity
.
Expansion (1993)
By the time it became a registered charity in April 1993, NMPH needed new offices to provide a complete range of services for relatives, enabling the charity to both find and support. This expansion was greatly helped by founders of the Big Issue, who secured premises in Mortlake
. Missing People is still based here today. ITN's Sir Trevor McDonald - later to become a Vice Patron
instigated invaluable publicity. Where funding allowed, new staff and volunteers joined and the information taken from each caller regarding a disappearance became more detailed and more accurate. A department offering Publicity was born. The success of the charity was cemented in its first year by an office visit from Diana, Princess of Wales
in October.
Getting the Message Home (1994)
In February 1994 the resources of NMPH were stretched to the limit by the horrific discoveries at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester
. Calls to the helpline from relatives of missing people trebled and extra volunteers had to be brought in to answer the phones. New callers reported relatives missing for the first time, even though some had vanished ten years ago or even more. Distressed families already in touch with the helpline called again, in case their missing relative might figure in the investigation. The police directed anxious families to NMPH for comfort and support. Gloucestershire Police called too, seeking help on identifying the bodies found at Cromwell Street and elsewhere. Their initial interest was in women reported missing from Worcestershire
and Gloucestershire
in the 1970s
and 1980s
. Some 390 names were supplied including Alison Chambers and Carol Cooper who were later identified as victims. At the same time, details mentioned by Frederick West
were passed to NMPH for checking against our database. One result of this was the identification of Juanita Mott another of the victims discovered at Cromwell Street. A positive side effect of the charities role in the investigation was the reunion of 110 non-victim families in less than two months. On 27 June 1994 the charity took over the Message Home Helpline from the Mothers' Union
, allowing adult missing people to pass a message home. In response to NMPH's growing achievements the charity was honoured that HRH The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO
accepted the role of Patron. The Duchess continues to attend performances on our behalf and raise morale of staff and volunteers with regular visits.
Recognition (1996–1998)
In 1996 Mary Asprey and Janet Newman were honoured for their services to charity with OBE
s. In 1998 both were honoured with the 'UK Women of Europe Award' and in the same year given the European Women of Achievement Humanitarianism Award and The Rotary Foundation's prestigious Paul Harris Fellowships.
Lost from View (2002)
The charity celebrates its 10th birthday. Jointly with the University of York, NMPH produced 'Lost from View' in February 2002. Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, for the first time research used the charity's unique database of all types of missing people to provide information and trends about the missing phenomenon.
Pioneering work (2003–2004)
Further accolades followed in 2003 when Mary and Janet were invited by The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
to a reception at Buckingham Palace
to mark the contribution of Pioneers to the life of the Nation. 2003 also saw the national roll out of the 'Missing from Care' project for local authorities 'looked after children' in September. This work for young people continued in May 2004 when NMPH launched the Runaway Helpline, as a direct response to a recommendation in the 2002 report by The Social Exclusion Task Force
.
Financial problems (2005–2006)
Faced with closure after years of inadequate funding and little input from the private sector, the media announced NMPH was to close. Under the direction of the co-Founders Sir Norman Wakefield was appointed as advisor and formed a consortium
of charitable organisations that offered financial support. After an outpouring of public support the Home Office
too announced emergency funding for the charity. In September 2005, Paul Tuohy joined the charity as their first Chief Executive. The charity reformed its Board of Trustees and started a considerable process of strategic planning.
New Beginnings (2007)
In May 2007 the charity relaunched as ‘Missing People’. This reflected the considerable strategic developments that had been made and the fact that the charity now provided a range of services rather than a single helpline. Also in May, less than one week after her disappearance, missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann had become headline news around the globe. On International Missing Children’s Day (25 May) an appeal by the charity was projected onto Marble Arch
to highlight Madeleine’s disappearance and the plight of missing children across the UK. In August Missing People launched the first comprehensive online “missing map” in the UK and Missing People TV’ – the first online channel featuring appeals of missing people. In October the charity along with other NGOs from the English Coalition
for Runaway Children asked the government to ‘stop missing the missing issue’. This led to the government developing a strategy on the protection of young runaways for the first time ever. In 2007 the charity also teamed up with the police to hold their first joint conference on “missing”. Delegates came from across the globe came to Blackpool
to debate and learn about the latest developments. In November 2007 Missing People won two awards for its website – which received more than 40 million hits
in its first year. In December the BBC
launched ‘Reunited’ - a season of hard hitting programmes about family members seeking to contact missing relatives and the complex reasons people run away.
Finding Missing People and Supporting Families (2008)
In March 2008 hundreds of families of the missing joined together to march through London to highlight the impact of someone going missing on their family, whilst Radiohead
supported the charity with the donation of an exclusive one-off remix tape. April saw the first of the award-winning series Missing Live on BBC One
. Successes included finding more than 100 people over the four week show. Missing People’s financial position was strengthened by a landmark decision by the Department for Children, Schools and Families
(DCSF) to grant the charity £310,000 in June 2008 and by the appointment of five new trustees, which led to a shortlisting at the Third Sector Awards 2008 for most improved Trustee Board. In October 2008 Missing People and Iceland supermarket teamed up to launch milk carton appeals for the missing, following on from the success of a previous initiative with Iceland which had helped to find more than 15 people across millions of cartons. The first new appeal was for Andrew Gosden, a 14-year-old boy last seen at King’s Cross Station. In December 2008 Missing People launched the first report into the experiences of, and impacts on, the families of missing people called ‘Living in Limbo’. Also in December Missing People teamed up with 95.8 Capital FM to launch the Runaway Helpline text service, the first free helpline text service for young people, which was funded by Vodafone
Foundation.
and other agencies to help find missing children and adults and support their family or carer. These services are available at no direct cost to forces. Missing People offer other services including publicity opportunities, liaison between forces, and identification services such as forensic artwork.
Mission
To advise and support people affected by "missing" and to facilitate a reduction in the number of missing people.Vision
A society that recognises the impact of missing on individuals, families and communities and that co-ordinates its services and resources to support and empower those affected and those working in the arena.Services
Missing People provides the following services:- support and advice for families left in limbo via a national 24 hour Freefone helplineHelplineA helpline was originally a telephone service which offers help to those who call. Many helpline services now offer more than telephone support - offering access to information, advice or customer service via telephone, email, web or SMS....
for people who are missing someone. - assistance in the search with publicity posters, web appeals and in the media via a network of mediaMass mediaMass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
partners who make regular appeals on the charity's behalf. - Runaway Helpline - a national, free, confidential service, for anyone who has run away from home or care, or been forced to leave home. Whether the young person has run away from home because of an argumentArgumentIn philosophy and logic, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something, or give evidence or reasons for accepting a particular conclusion.Argument may also refer to:-Mathematics and computer science:...
, bullying, abuse or they're unhappy. - Message Home - a 24 hour Freefone service that helps missing adults to reach advice, support and to reconnect with their family or carers via a message or three-way call.
History
Early years (1986–89)NMPH Following the high profile disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh
Suzy Lamplugh
Susannah "Suzy" Lamplugh was a British estate agent reported missing on 28 July 1986 in Fulham, South West London, England. She was officially declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994. The last clue of her whereabouts was an appointment to show a house in Shorrolds Road to someone she referred...
from Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
in July 1986, two sisters Janet Newman and Mary Asprey, became the co-founders of National Missing Persons Helpline. With no news of Suzy's whereabouts media attention moved to the apparent lack of support for missing persons' families, such as Paul and Diane Lamplugh. Mary with her sister, Janet Newman, established the Trust's initial work on missing people.
The helpline (1990–92)
From a bedroom at the sisters' home in East Sheen
East Sheen
East Sheen, also known as 'Sheen', is an affluent suburb of London, England in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It forms part of the London post town in the SW postcode area....
, south west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, a start-up service was formed in early 1990. The Freefone number, 0500 700 700, remains the same today. Meanwhile the Suzy Lamplugh Trust moved towards issues surrounding personal safety and safety in the workplace. Initially Mary and Janet and a small team of volunteers simply comforted callers to the helpline. However, they soon realised families wanted more than just telephone support. In 1992, having re-mortgaged their houses, Mary and Janet applied to register National Missing Persons Helpline (NMPH) as a charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
.
Expansion (1993)
By the time it became a registered charity in April 1993, NMPH needed new offices to provide a complete range of services for relatives, enabling the charity to both find and support. This expansion was greatly helped by founders of the Big Issue, who secured premises in Mortlake
Mortlake
Mortlake is a district of London, England and part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes with East Sheen inland to the south. Mortlake was part of Surrey until 1965.-History:...
. Missing People is still based here today. ITN's Sir Trevor McDonald - later to become a Vice Patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
instigated invaluable publicity. Where funding allowed, new staff and volunteers joined and the information taken from each caller regarding a disappearance became more detailed and more accurate. A department offering Publicity was born. The success of the charity was cemented in its first year by an office visit from Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
in October.
Getting the Message Home (1994)
In February 1994 the resources of NMPH were stretched to the limit by the horrific discoveries at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
. Calls to the helpline from relatives of missing people trebled and extra volunteers had to be brought in to answer the phones. New callers reported relatives missing for the first time, even though some had vanished ten years ago or even more. Distressed families already in touch with the helpline called again, in case their missing relative might figure in the investigation. The police directed anxious families to NMPH for comfort and support. Gloucestershire Police called too, seeking help on identifying the bodies found at Cromwell Street and elsewhere. Their initial interest was in women reported missing from Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
and Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. Some 390 names were supplied including Alison Chambers and Carol Cooper who were later identified as victims. At the same time, details mentioned by Frederick West
Fred West
Frederick Walter Stephen West , was a British serial killer. Between 1967 and 1987, he alone, and later, he and his wife Rosemary, tortured, raped and murdered at least 11 young women and girls, many at the couple's homes. The majority of the murders occurred between May 1973 and September 1979 at...
were passed to NMPH for checking against our database. One result of this was the identification of Juanita Mott another of the victims discovered at Cromwell Street. A positive side effect of the charities role in the investigation was the reunion of 110 non-victim families in less than two months. On 27 June 1994 the charity took over the Message Home Helpline from the Mothers' Union
Mothers' Union
Mothers’ Union is an international Christian charity that seeks to support families worldwide. Its members are not all mothers or even all women, as there are many parents, men, widows, singles and grandparents involved in its work...
, allowing adult missing people to pass a message home. In response to NMPH's growing achievements the charity was honoured that HRH The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
accepted the role of Patron. The Duchess continues to attend performances on our behalf and raise morale of staff and volunteers with regular visits.
Recognition (1996–1998)
In 1996 Mary Asprey and Janet Newman were honoured for their services to charity with OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
s. In 1998 both were honoured with the 'UK Women of Europe Award' and in the same year given the European Women of Achievement Humanitarianism Award and The Rotary Foundation's prestigious Paul Harris Fellowships.
Lost from View (2002)
The charity celebrates its 10th birthday. Jointly with the University of York, NMPH produced 'Lost from View' in February 2002. Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, for the first time research used the charity's unique database of all types of missing people to provide information and trends about the missing phenomenon.
Pioneering work (2003–2004)
Further accolades followed in 2003 when Mary and Janet were invited by The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
to a reception at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
to mark the contribution of Pioneers to the life of the Nation. 2003 also saw the national roll out of the 'Missing from Care' project for local authorities 'looked after children' in September. This work for young people continued in May 2004 when NMPH launched the Runaway Helpline, as a direct response to a recommendation in the 2002 report by The Social Exclusion Task Force
Social Exclusion Task Force
The Social Exclusion Task Force was a part of the Cabinet Office that provides the UK Government with strategic advice and policy analysis in its drive against social exclusion. It was preceded by the Social Exclusion Unit, which was set up by the Labour government in 1997 and formed part of the...
.
Financial problems (2005–2006)
Faced with closure after years of inadequate funding and little input from the private sector, the media announced NMPH was to close. Under the direction of the co-Founders Sir Norman Wakefield was appointed as advisor and formed a consortium
Consortium
A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....
of charitable organisations that offered financial support. After an outpouring of public support the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
too announced emergency funding for the charity. In September 2005, Paul Tuohy joined the charity as their first Chief Executive. The charity reformed its Board of Trustees and started a considerable process of strategic planning.
New Beginnings (2007)
In May 2007 the charity relaunched as ‘Missing People’. This reflected the considerable strategic developments that had been made and the fact that the charity now provided a range of services rather than a single helpline. Also in May, less than one week after her disappearance, missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann had become headline news around the globe. On International Missing Children’s Day (25 May) an appeal by the charity was projected onto Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
to highlight Madeleine’s disappearance and the plight of missing children across the UK. In August Missing People launched the first comprehensive online “missing map” in the UK and Missing People TV’ – the first online channel featuring appeals of missing people. In October the charity along with other NGOs from the English Coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
for Runaway Children asked the government to ‘stop missing the missing issue’. This led to the government developing a strategy on the protection of young runaways for the first time ever. In 2007 the charity also teamed up with the police to hold their first joint conference on “missing”. Delegates came from across the globe came to Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
to debate and learn about the latest developments. In November 2007 Missing People won two awards for its website – which received more than 40 million hits
Hit (internet)
A hit is a request to a web server for a file . When a web page is uploaded from a server the number of "hits" or "page hits" is equal to the number of files requested. Therefore, one page load does not always equal one hit because often pages are made up of other images and other files which stack...
in its first year. In December the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
launched ‘Reunited’ - a season of hard hitting programmes about family members seeking to contact missing relatives and the complex reasons people run away.
Finding Missing People and Supporting Families (2008)
In March 2008 hundreds of families of the missing joined together to march through London to highlight the impact of someone going missing on their family, whilst Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
supported the charity with the donation of an exclusive one-off remix tape. April saw the first of the award-winning series Missing Live on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. Successes included finding more than 100 people over the four week show. Missing People’s financial position was strengthened by a landmark decision by the Department for Children, Schools and Families
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education...
(DCSF) to grant the charity £310,000 in June 2008 and by the appointment of five new trustees, which led to a shortlisting at the Third Sector Awards 2008 for most improved Trustee Board. In October 2008 Missing People and Iceland supermarket teamed up to launch milk carton appeals for the missing, following on from the success of a previous initiative with Iceland which had helped to find more than 15 people across millions of cartons. The first new appeal was for Andrew Gosden, a 14-year-old boy last seen at King’s Cross Station. In December 2008 Missing People launched the first report into the experiences of, and impacts on, the families of missing people called ‘Living in Limbo’. Also in December Missing People teamed up with 95.8 Capital FM to launch the Runaway Helpline text service, the first free helpline text service for young people, which was funded by Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
Foundation.
Working with the police
Missing People works in partnership with policePolice
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and other agencies to help find missing children and adults and support their family or carer. These services are available at no direct cost to forces. Missing People offer other services including publicity opportunities, liaison between forces, and identification services such as forensic artwork.