INTERNATIONAL MISSING CHILDREN'S DAY: May 25th

Tuesday (25th May) is International Missing Children’s Day (IMCD). This is a day when we remember all of those children around the world who are missing and separated from their families. It is also an opportunity for everyone to try and help these children and to make a difference to this vast and tragic global problem.

The NPIA will be re-launching the UK’s Child Rescue Alert on Tuesday. This ‘Alert’ system for child abductions has been updated in order to improve its effectiveness. It should hopefully prove to be a very useful aid in finding abducted children quickly and returning them to their families. Our hope is that the 27 European Member States will all strive to have similar systems up and running effectively as soon as possible, including the essential facility for cross-border cooperation.

PACT (Parents and Abducted Children Together) will be marking International Missing Children’s Day in a particularly exciting way! Have a look on www.pact-online.org now to find out how. The team at PACT do an incredible job in trying to make the world a safer place for our children, so please support them if you can.

As a parent of a missing child, every day is difficult in some way. We would like to ask everybody to spare a thought and prayer for all missing children, during this coming Tuesday in particular. If you can help in any way, either through practical means, by improving awareness in some way or by donating to one of the Missing Children organisations (see our ‘Missing Children’ section) we would be very grateful.

Just because a problem cannot be seen, doesn’t mean it’s not there or can be forgotten.

Missing children need our help. We can all make a difference.

Thank you for your fantastic support.

Kate

Update: May 18th, 2010

I competed in the Etape Caledonia on Sunday, May 16. Due to mild conditions, excellent pacemaking (especially Duncan Morrison number 1172) and a following wind the whole way round, I managed to come in well ahead of expected in 3 hours 51min 27sec. I finished 171st out of over 3500 finishers so there is not much room for improvement next year!

Thanks to all who have sponsored me and especially Andy Renwick, Alan Crombie, Paul MacIntyre and Michelle Jeffrey for support on the day and donating to Madeleine's fund.

Gerry

Poster for Event

Madeleine has been missing for just over 3 years and recently had her 7th birthday.

This weekend I am competing in the Etape Caledonia - an 81 mile (130km) cycle through Highland Perthshire with almost 2000m of ascent. I am raising money for Madeleine's Fund- Leaving No Stone Unturned and I would be grateful if you would consider sponsoring me. I hope to get round in under 5 hours- weather, injuries and luck permitting!

Donations can be made online via our donation page or directly through internet transfers (direction are on the donation page).

Please include etape in the reference.

Thank you.

Gerry

Thank you to everyone who has stayed with us during the past three years – hoping, praying and supporting our efforts to find Madeleine and bring her home. We know we couldn't have achieved as much as we have without this help.

Milestones and anniversaries are never easy, but the work to find our little Madeleine will continue regardless, with the same determination and tenacity as it always has and for as long as it takes.

It might be three years without Madeleine but it certainly doesn't feel like we're at the end of the line - far from it.

Madeleine. Still missing, still missed, still looking!

Today we joined hundreds of runners to take part in a 10km run in Hyde Park to support the work of the charity 'Missing People' (http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/).

'Miles for Missing People' is the first of what will now be an annual event.

Many relatives who also have a family member missing (through a variety of different circumstances) came to support the event and raise awareness for all missing children and adults.

We want to thank Martin Houghton-Brown and the team at Missing People for organising today's run, and of course for all their commitment and hard work, despite limited resources and recognition.
We would also like to thank everyone who came to run and/or show their support today, as well as all those who have very generously sponsored me and the other runners.

Events like that today, help to remind the world that these children and adults are still missing. By supporting such a cause, we are all giving them a much needed chance of being found - and hopefully reunited with their family.

Events this week have yet again been incomprehensible and particularly upsetting.

On Tuesday, the Public Prosecutor in Portugal released a large number of documents (relating to the investigation to find our daughter Madeleine) to the British Media, following their request for access. Disclosing such information publicly greatly jeopardises the search for Madeleine and puts witnesses and innocent members of the general public at risk (as well as causing them great anxiety). Release and publication of information in this manner also potentially compromises future investigations. It is difficult to see how anyone benefits from this week's actions.

It is imperative that the Authorities take responsibility for sensitive and confidential information. We, together with the general public, need assurances that this will not be allowed to happen again. Equally, we need absolute assurances that all credible information and leads will be investigated.

We also urge each individual working for the media to consider their own personal responsibility - to put commercial interests aside occasionally and to bear in mind the potential consequences of their actions, especially when people's lives and well-being are at risk.

Our own investigators have acted professionally and with complete integrity. We are eager to encourage anybody who has any information which may relate to Madeleine's abduction to contact our investigation team directly by phone (0845 838 4699 or 800 814 028), by email (investigation@findmadeleine.com) or via the P.O box address given on the website. Information may be given anonymously via each route. 

We are incredibly grateful to all those who continue to support us in our search for Madeleine. During weeks such as these, it is invaluable to know that we are not facing this difficult journey alone.

We are very pleased and relieved with the judge's decision today. By upholding the injunction against Goncalo Amaral's book and DVD, the judge has rightly agreed that there has been significant, ongoing damage to the search for our beloved daughter Madeleine and to the rights of our family. We are grateful to the judge for accepting that this injustice must not continue. 

The court case has demonstrated, once again, that there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm. It has also clearly shown that no police force is actively looking for Madeleine, even when they are, shockingly, presented with new information and leads. The motives of those who have tried to convince the world that Madeleine is dead, and who've disgracefully and falsely tried to implicate us in her disappearance, need to be seriously questioned.

As painful and personally damaging as the slanderous claims of Mr Amaral and his supporters have been to us and our family, our primary focus has always been, and always will be, to find Madeleine through our own best investigative efforts. It is still incumbent upon the British and Portuguese authorities to ensure that every credible lead has been investigated and that a meaningful search for our innocent and vulnerable little girl is properly carried out.

We must and will keep looking for Madeleine and those responsible for her abduction. We implore the public, especially the Portuguese people, to help us look for Madeleine, to remain vigilant and to give us any information that could help us find our daughter. Please do not give up onMadeleine. Please call 800 814 028 (In Portugal) or 0845 838 4699.

Thank you

Kate and Gerry McCann    

Today marks 1000 days since Madeleine was taken from us. It's hard to even say the number. We remember the first few days after Madeleine was taken, watching the clock and counting every hour. Now we've reached 1000 days.

It's difficult sometimes to understand how we've been able to keep going and survive without Madeleine, especially since nothing has changed since that terrifying first night. Madeleine is still missing. Sometimes it even feels 'wrong' to be coping. And yet if we weren't, there would be no search and no campaign to find Madeleine and that just doesn't bear thinking about! We are very aware though that our ability to cope and keep going for Madeleine has been greatly augmented by the incredible support we have received from so many people and this should never be underestimated. We will always remember and be forever grateful for this help, support and kindness.

This evening we will be holding a fund-raising event in London - 'Still Missing,Still Missed; An Evening for Madeleine'. We will be remembering Madeleine and other missing children throughout the world. We are hoping to raise a good amount of money to further the search for Madeleine but also to benefit the charities, Missing People and Missing Children Europe and the fantastic but often unrecognised work that they do on behalf of all missing children in the UK and Europe.

Also this evening, 1000 lanterns will be released into the night sky - an event which has been called 'Look Up & Look Out for Madeleine'.They will be released from many different locations in the UK, Portugal and the USA.  It is a symbolic way for our family, friends and supporters to show that we have not forgotten Madeleine and will never give up on her.

In addition to the above, Simon Armitage has very kindly(and courageously) written a poem for Madeleine to coincide with the 1000^th day since her disappearance. It is called 'The Beacon'. We think it is an incredible and really beautiful sonnet. It manages to convey so accurately and succinctly, both our darker moments and the reality of hope and possibility, aswell as including powerful and touching references to Madeleine. We hope it will be read by many.

One thousand days.

Madeleine is still missing and she needs to be found.

We will continue to turn every stone. We will never give upon Madeleine.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Together we can bring Madeleine home.