#blogging4madeleine - A Child Still Loved, Still Missed, Still Missing

I'm sure it won't take me to tell you that the little girl (left) is Madeleine McCann, a child from Rothley, Leicester, UK, who went missing while on holiday with her family in Portugal on the 3rd of May, 2007. Madeleine has become one of the most widely recognised missing children in the world, but sadly that recognition has not yet helped to find her.
Today is Madeleine's 10th birthday so I along with many others, have decided to compose a blog to help keep awareness of her disappearance going. Hopefully sometime soon, someone somewhere will see this child and she can be reunited with her family.

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Madeleine has now been missing for 6 years

Please keep in mind that
Madeleine has a distinctive
mark in her right eye

You might well ask why keep going after all this time when nothing so far has turned up to say that Madeleine is alive? To that I would have to say well why not keep going as nothing has turned up to say she is not alive . Put yourself in the position of any parent of a missing child and imagine yourself giving up on your child; it just wouldn't happen would it, and why should it? Only this week 3 people who having been missing for 10 years have been found giving hope to other families with missing loved ones - read link below

Three US women missing for years rescued in Ohio

Although Madeleine went missing in Portugal it is possible that Madeleine could be anywhere in the world - Europe, USA, Russia... anywhere, therefore the need for a worldwide campaign.

Please consider putting up a poster of Madeleine in your car, school, club, anywhere that Madeleine's face can be seen and perhaps recognised. School staffrooms, doctor's surgeries, hospitals, health centres and churches are all good places to put up posters. Posters in different languages can be found HERE.

English

Just taking a photo of this posters code with your Smartphone could give you access to The FindMadeleine website at anytime, as long as you remember to install a QR Code reader App which is readily available free from the net, both for IPhone and Android Phones. You can also just scan the code and when it is read by your phone you will have quick access to the website, posters, info and numbers needed for reporting a possible sighting. 

It is also possible to do this for posters in different languages as I have done here.

Portuguese

German

Spanish

"Madeleine is a beautiful, bright, sunny and caring little girl. She is so special. Please, please, do not hurt her.

"Please do not scare her, please let us know where to find Madeleine or put her in place of safety and let somebody know where she is.

"We beg you to let Madeleine come home.We need our Madeleine."

 "Sean and Amelie need Madeleine and she needs us. Please give our little girl back."

 "Por favor, devolva a nossa menina."    Kate McCann Appeal May 2007

Kate McCann running for Missing People April 2013

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An interactive poster for Madeleine.  Please share, and why not make your own for Madeleine and other missing children

The disappearance of  Madeleine McCann  has had a profound affect on me as  a person, a mother and as a grandmother. No way could I accept that a child could be taken from the sanctuary of their own bedroom, no matter where it was, and separated from their loving family. This is just not on and should not happen just as other abductions, kidnappings and disappearances shouldn't happen.

This case has opened my eyes to the problem of the missing both in this country and around the world. So many children and adults separated from their families and so desperately needing found.

Please on this day, Madeleine's birthday, help us raise awareness for her case but please also try to look out for other cases of missing children/adults as you make your way through life. They have not been forgotten, they need awareness too and it is up to us to raise it or we will all be guilty of the apathy that can surround these cases so often.

Madeleine McCann's disappearance certainly opened my eyes to the problem of missing children as I'm sure it has with many others.  The families of the missing  are never at peace and are often Surfing Through Life

Often out of the blue families are faced with unexpected Memories which remind them of happy times spent with  their children but at the same time show them what they are missing.

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What More Can You Do To Help Madeleine And Other Missing Children

• Keep up to date with information on Madeleine by following the  Official Find Madeleine Campaign on Facebook

• Follow Missing People who are a  lifeline when someone disappears, whether it is the family of the missing or the missing person themselves. 

• If you use other forms of Social Media such as Twitter look out for updates on Madeleine and other Missing People / children
  

• Remember 25th May isInternational Missing Children's Day.  Please do all you can to support this initiative.

• Take part in The Big Tweet For Missing People on 25th May 2013
  

• Join useful sites like Pinterest and look and share links for Madeleine and other missing children there. Make up some boards of your own with repins etc
  
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• Wristbands, Car Stickers, Luggage Tags and Prayer Cards etc are also available from The Official FindMadeleine Website to help raise awareness.

• If you have a website consider adding this widget for Missing Kids and get their faces known

• Try to find out who is missing in your area by visiting your local police website or join up to their community alert schemes which can send messages to keep you updated about any relevant criminal or suspicious activity in your area. This is normally a free service.  Here is an example 
  

• Police also have Facebook and Twitter Accounts which can keep you up to date with missing people alerts.

• Sign up to Social Alert Me - This is a network of users aiming to help find Missing Children and vulnerable adults worldwide.  On signing up you will  help to circulate an ALERT by sharing it with your friends and family, your workmates and neighbours to help raise awareness of the missing person. The ALERT is issued to ALL registered users who live within a 40 Miles radius of the Missing Persons last known whereabouts.This is based on your postal code at the time of registration.
  

• Please be aware of the The European hotline number for missing children  which is 116 000  

          FAQ about this number

More  Information

• How a forensic artist 'aged' Madeleine McCann 

• Helping To Find Madeleine - The aim of HTFM, is to support the Find Madeleine Campaign in any way it can.

• Find Madeleine on Pinterest

• Notfound.org - Make better use of the 404-PAGE on your website - Fabulous idea!

• Using QR Codes to find the missing

As a participant in #blogging4madeleine I would like to say a big thank you to http://amummysview.com/ for inviting me to take part and for continuing to raise awareness of Madeleine's disappearance and that of other missing children. Thank you CJ