Andrew has been missing from his home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, since 14 September 2007. He was last seen on CCTV footage at King's Cross Station in London later that morning.  When Andrew went missing he was 5ft 3in tall, slim with light brown hair and brown eyes. He needs strong prescription glasses. He was last seen wearing black jeans and T-shirt.

This week beginning July 7th, the Missing People organisation working in partnership with Outdoor Media, will raise awareness of Andrew's case on their billboards at stations and  other public areas. This initiative is being undertaken as Andrew will be 21 years of age on July 10th.  Hopefully  these images will come to the attention of someone who knows something of what happened to Andrew. If you are that person, please come forward and help Andrew's family. Andrew has been missing almost 7 years now, which is 7 years too long. Please everyone, keep him and his family in your thoughts.

For more info on Andrew's case please go here http://helpustofindandrew.weebly.com/

Sadly Yulia's body has now been recovered.  My thoughts are with her, her family and friends.

Thousands of children go missing every year but thanks to the Notfound.org project, websites/ blogs like this can easily help to make a difference and raise awareness of the problem. By installing  their application on a website/blog a picture of a missing child automatically gets published on every ‘404 - page not found’ of the website. As shown in the example below, each time a 404 page appears it randomly displays a missing child's details.

The example below is of a well known child missing in Kos, Greece.

It is evident that the more websites that support the Notfound.org project, by donating their 404 page for this use, the more a missing child's picture and details will be displayed. Hopefully someone, somewhere, will recognise one of these children, know their whereabouts, and help the authorities to find them.

Website owners, webmasters and web designers can find out how to support the Notfound.org at http://www.notfound.org. Anyone without a website can also help by telling those who do about the project.

The picture and details of older people (adults) may also appear as they may have been missing for a long time and/or still have parents and family who are still seeking information about them. eg.

If you don't have a website but know someone who has, copy this e-mail and send it to your friend, your CEO or your company webmaster. 

Dear ____________,

Thousands of children go missing every year across the Europe. Some of them run away from a situation of conflict or abuse at home or from care, some are abducted by a parent or by a third party, and some go missing after being placed in a shelter having travelled unaccompanied. But there is a way you can help: installing the Notfound application, a picture of a missing child will be posted on every 404 page of your website. This will allow Child Focus to distribute the maximum number of photos, and help all missing children find their way home.

Discover the application on www.notfound.org.

As you are probably aware already my main reason for being on Twitter and Facebook is to help raise awareness for the missing, both children and adults.  This is not some  idea that popped into my head out of nowhere, but rather the direct effect the disappearance of Madeleine McCann had on me and it was profound.

I have followed the story of Madeleine since 3rd May, 2007 and have done much as I can to try to make sure her story is known as far and wide as is possible.  As well as Madeleine I have come to know the story of so many missing children and adults and that is what keeps me going today.

I at one point worked as a volunteer for a Scottish Charity called Help Find My Child which sadly is no longer in  existence. This work ensured that I was kept up to date with the stories and updates of many children across the world, some found safe and well, some still missing. During my time as a volunteer I got to know the names of organisations that helped families with missing relatives and it was there too that I learned many of the IT skills I have today. For that I am very grateful to the Scottish person who set that up and she knows who she is.

With the missing in mind I thought I would share a little event that happened not that long ago when I went on holiday abroad. 

I had taken several books with me on holiday to read but before the end of my stay I ran out of reading material.  No mind thought I, off to the Quiet Lounge of the hotel where they had several large bookcases full of books all arranged in different languages.  You know the type of thing I mean; you put in a book and take a book out.  I had a look around and was disappointed to find that the English bookcase only had one sad little brown book which was hardback and had no dust-cover. What to do? Was I really going to take this sad little affair and eek it out for the rest of my holiday? I decided I had better have a look at least and find out exactly what is was as that was my only chance of something to read. I turned the front cover over only to discover that it was a book written by Jaycee Lee Dugard a missing child for 18 years, now thankfully recovered.  The book was entitled...

My Stolen life    http://www.amazon.com/A-Stolen-Life-ebook/dp/B004ZZS4CC

Wow, can't tell you how I felt at that moment  as I knew Jaycee's story and it wasn't a nice one.

What was I going to do now?  I can't read this, the story of a young girl missing and abused by a paedophile and his wife for 18 sad years. No way thought I  tears rising to my eyes.  But how the heck could I put this little brown book back for God's sake, this child had written it to let people know what she had gone through and the misery that was her life, it was her voice on paper, I had to take it.

So I did, saying nothing to my husband as I couldn't even speak I felt so upset. From there we made our way back to our hotel room where I promptly burst into tears.  My poor husband hadn't a clue what the heck was going on and I felt a fool trying to explain it. I read the book and yes it broke my heart, sometimes I squirmed at the words that I was reading, but in the end it was a book of hope and showed the love of a mother and child for each other.  It was the story of a girl who wanted to spread the  word that we should never give up on a missing child just like her mother hadn't or any other mother with a missing child. I can't decide for you whether you read this story or not, only you can decide that, but as this brave girl said :-

"Sometimes you have to hold onto any hope to survive."  Jaycee Lee Dugard

Please keep hope in your heart for missing children

More information about Jaycee Lee Dugard

http://pinterest.com/Looking4U2/jaycee-lee-dugard/