ANDREW GOSDEN 15 - Doncaster (UK) - 14/09/07

Posted by pam supportfromireland

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:05 am Post subject:

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This paper is a start Heidi. I really don't know about other papers. I worry about Andrew so much, can't imagine what his family must be going through. Never give up does apply here though.
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Posted by Twiglet

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject:

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Can we all spare a minute in our busy day to think of Andrew today on his 15th birthday! Today should be a day spent with his family but they are still awaiting news of his where-abouts! This is Andrew's first birthday away from his family and we cannot imagine the pain they are going through.
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Posted by pam supportfromireland

Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:44 pm Post subject:

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Thank you twiggy.
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Posted by pam supportfromireland

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:34 am Post subject:

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I am going to bring this up again. Are there Goth meetups in London? Ours was yesterday and place was so full of teenagers all meeting up from around the country. I have actually looked at kids faces here, just in case and one was very like Andrew but way too tall. Anyway, I still think of Andrew all the time. If I go to London soon I will look myself. In the meantime, anyone visiting, please keep eyes out everywhere. Thank you.
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Posted by pam supportfromireland

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:54 pm Post subject:

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YouTube Video appeal by Andrew's family:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBXXPAzzWRI

Can you help? Please pass on this link to all you know. Maybe they know someone living in London.

I am still looking for Andrew here in Ireland even where teenagers hang out. So many of them just like Andrew was. I still have hope he will be found.

Posted by pam supportfromireland

Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:02 pm Post subject:

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I know Andrew loves the band Slipknot. It took a lot for me to look at their sites etc. as I find them scary but then I'm an adult. Anyway, I see they are touring UK 22-24 August:

Date: 22 August 2008
Where: Leeds Festival
City: Leeds

Date: 24 August 2008
Where: Reading Festival
City: Reading

Now maybe Andrew may try and be there or in the cities while they are playing. I am thinking it would be a very good idea to put posters all around these cities & London. Can ye help?
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Posted by heidistar

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject:

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Hi Pam,

I am happy to put up posters in London, I will be going up there a few times in the next few weeks with daughters during holidays.

I am worried that Andrew may have changed a bit after all this time, he may have grown a little or a lot . I worry about Andrew quite a bit, he is one person I always think of, probably because we know he came to London.

I don't know of any Goth meet ups, my eldest likes rock music but not really into Gothic stuff. However, it is definitely worth targeting those festivals you mentioned, because he may even go himself or know someone else who goes to it. It would be great if he would just phone his family and let them know he is okay.
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Wishing the safe and speedy return of Madeleine McCann

Posted by pam supportfromireland

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:27 pm Post subject:

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Thanks heidi. I know I agree he is likely to have changed. Impossible to know by how much. A good look at his facial features (ears too) and teeth I do these days, as not sure if he is taller etc. We hope heidi !

If anyone is from Reading or Leeds please help. Thank you.
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Posted by pam supportfromireland
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject:

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Sheffield Telegraph

11 August 2008

Campaign for teen still missing

* For 1 Year Anniversary Andrew's family are organising a poster campaign followed by an ecumenical service in London. I know our members will help.

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news2/Campaign-for-teen-still-missing.4376310.jp

** who can make it?

Posted by pam suportfromireland
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject:

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Hi Everyone. I have been in contact with Andrew's Father,Kevin Gosden, to see if we as a group could help in the Anniversary Plans for Andrew, to be held in London.Below you will find his reply to me,which he has given me permission to post.

Hi Kevin,
>
> We are a group of volunteers, that have promoted Andrew's case since
> he went missing. I myself am based in Ireland but we do have members
> in UK. In the event of someone being able to attend London's
> Anniversary plans, could I please have times of meeting in London and
> where.I can then put it on the website with your permission.
>
> Here is our website
>
> http://www.freeforums.in/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=130&start=60&mforum=detectives
>
> If we can help further we will
>
>**********

Thanks very much. We do not yet have those exact details: I gather from the coach firm it will probably be around 11 a.m. off Oxford Street. The service will start at 3.30 at St. James church Piccadilly. We are currently collecting lists of names - we will need to know numbers of volunteers so that we can have the right quantity of leaflets printed for the day. I will attach our current notice which has email and phone numbers but it is best if folk can email us if possible. We can then send firm details to everyone on a big email nearer the time. Hope thats ok but do get back to me if there are any other queries, Kevin.

Current Notice devised by Gosden Family:

Anniversary of Andrew Gosden’s disappearance

On the 14th September 2008 Andrew will have been missing for exactly one year. To mark the anniversary we plan to gather a large group of people in the centre of London and raise awareness by handing out leaflets and posters. The day will include a short ecumenical service held for Andrew and all missing children at 3:30 pm in St. James Church Piccadilly.
We would appreciate as much support as possible on the day to raise the profile of missing people in our country. We are in the process of arranging coaches to transport people for the day, setting off from Doncaster town centre at around 7:30 am, hoping to be back at around 8:30 pm. We have underwritten the cost of these to allow everyone the opportunity to help. If you would like to have a place on a coach then please get in contact with us before the 20th August.
If you prefer to make your travel arrangements, please let us know and we can arrange a meeting point.
As an identifying symbol, we invite participants to wear a yellow t-shirt, optionally printed with an image of Andrew as shown above. There is no cost for the day other than a travelcard for the central tubes which will be under £5. It may also be advisable to prepare a packed lunch.
If you are not able to help on the day but wish to make a donation towards the cost of the coaches, then this would be greatly appreciated.

Contact Details:
Phone : 01302 344087
Mobile: 07766268778 or 07982836869
Email: kevin.gosden@hotmail.co.uk

* NB The preferred contact is email please before 20 August. Thank you.
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Posted by pam suportfromireland
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:41 pm:

Bumping this as time to contact by Wednesday please if can attend. Thank you.

Posted by pam suportfromireland
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:05 am

Well I hope someone can attend as I would have, only that it has turned out to be one of the busiest weeks of my life.

Keep hoping Andrew will be found.

Posted by pam suportfromireland
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:27 am

Doncaster Free Press

14 August 2008

Hopes that London Service will re-ignite search for teenager


* If anyone is in London for this, please help this family out. Thank you.

http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/Hopes-that-London-service-will.4390000.jp

Posted by pam supportfromireland
Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:57 pm

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It is shocking that it is coming up to a year since Andrew went missing. Andrew is into gothic style music e.g Evanescence, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Marilyn Manson. Anyone know if Summer concerts are over?

I'm sure if anyone can get to London for 14th September ye will. If ye can at all get a T-Shirt printed with Andrew's photo on it. There will be a service in St.James Church Picadilly at 3.30pm after posters have been handed out.

If can't go yourselves please look up last few pages of this thread and get some London friends to help at luchtime even. It can be done !

Where there is a will there is a way.

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:35 am

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A reminder in case anyone can make 14 th September Remembrance day.Thanks.

Andrews parents made an appeal on GMTV this morning in the hope that it will lead to information regarding the whereabouts of their much loved son.

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 4:55 pm

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Thanks for letting us know Twiggy. Hope it does.

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 8:26 am

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GMTV Appeal

11 September 2008

14-year-old Andrew Gosden went missing from his home in Doncaster a year ago on the 14th of September.

A year on

Family and friends of the missing 14 yr old (now 15) will gather for a church service to mark a year since his disappearance.

The family will bus 3 coach loads of friends, family supporters and volunteers from Doncaster to London Kings Cross armed with 15,000 leaflets to hand out to the public in the hope of tracing their son.

A year ago the super-bright pupil, who was heading for a string of A* GCSEs, took more than 200 from his bank account and was spotted heading to London on a train.

The last confirmed sighting of him was at Kings Cross station on the 14th September.

His worried parents appealed for him to get in touch, and whilst they received a number of sightings after their appearance on GMTV they are still no closer to finding the teenager.

If you have a sighting or information about Andrew Gosden, please call us confidentially on Freefone 0500 700 700 or email seensomeone@missingpeople.org.uk

Message to Andrew

In the initial days after he went missing last year his father Kevin Gosden said his message to his son was simple: "Please get in touch. We love you, we care about you desperately. Please let us know you are ok.''

South Yorkshire Police has appealed for help in tracing the youngster, who was a member of a Government programme designed to stretch the top 5% of pupils.

Andrew, who is 5ft 3in, of slim build with straight brown hair. When he went missing he was believed to be wearing a black top, black jeans, trainers and was carrying a black bag with patches of rock bands on.

Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is asked to contact South Yorkshire Police on 0114 220 2020.

Posted by Tamsin
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 3:36 pm

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I can't attend but am in contact with Andrew's dad and have sent our love and best wishes,reading his story in the Times online today is heartbreaking.
So many parents of missing children end up attempting suicide,the trauma taht families go through is indescribable

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:30 pm

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Times Online

13 September 2008

One Year on,missing Andrew Gosden is still a blank space in family's heart

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4744115.ece

(snippet)

Eyes averted and voice lowered to a whisper, Kevin Gosden confesses that in the darkest hours he has found himself envying the parents of murdered children.

It is an extraordinary admission that illustrates the hell in which he and his wife Glenys have lived for the past year. Parents of teenagers fatally shot or stabbed “are lucky because at least they know” their child’s fate. No one knows what happened to Andrew Gosden.

Early tomorrow, three coaches will leave Doncaster, South Yorkshire, for London. On board will be 150 people, each looking for an answer. They are the family, friends and teachers of a boy whose decision to run away from home, 365 days ago tomorrow, continues to baffle all who knew him.

That Friday morning, eight days into a new term, 14-year-old Andrew left home; but he did not catch the school bus, walking instead to a park where he waited until he knew his parents would have left for work.


What made a perfect son run away?
He then returned home, changed out of his school uniform, leaving his blazer neatly hanging from the back of a chair and placing his shirt and trousers in the washing machine. Then he headed to a cash machine, withdrew £200 from his savings account and made for the railway station where he bought a one-way ticket to London.

Later that day, CCTV cameras at King’s Cross captured three still images of a fresh-faced boy, looking slim and small for his age, as he crossed the concourse and left the station. Since then, silence.

It is estimated that 210,000 people are reported missing every year, 140,000 of them aged under 18. Of these, 100,000 have not reached their 16th birthday. The majority, 75 per cent, return home within two days, and 90 per cent are back within a month. After a year, according to Metropolitan Police figures, 99 per cent of reported runaways have been found. But not Andrew. He has vanished, seemingly without trace.

The scant comfort to which Mr and Mrs Gosden cling has come from periodic sightings – 122 in total – of a boy matching his description. These have been reported from all over Britain, the majority – 45 – from London and 11 from Brighton. Not one has been confirmed.

One year on, pain and bewilderment weigh heavy in the Gosdens’ tidy, terraced Victorian home on the outskirts of Doncaster.

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:33 pm

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Reading this article, well worth the read. I can't help thinking his school and all in it would be vital for clues ! Hope the Police have interviewed loads there to see how Andrew was that day and any clues on school computers too. I believe someone has to know what has happened to Andrew.

Posted by twiglet
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:01 pm
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Having read the "GMTV appeal" report above I can't help but wonder if Andrew felt he was under a lot of presure to do really well at school!

South Yorkshire Police has appealed for help in tracing the youngster, who was a member of a Government programme designed to stretch the top 5% of pupils.

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:06 pm

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Hi twiggy, I have felt that all along :| Let's hope news asap. It does seem incredible he has disappeared.

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:17 pm

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The Star Sth Yorkshire

13 September 2008

One last desperate plea to trace son

http://www.thestar.co.uk/doncaster/One-last-desperate-bid-to.4487621.jp

Posted by pamsupportfromireland
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:41 pm

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Nafferton Today UK

Missing Teenager's family mark anniversary

http://www.naffertontoday.co.uk/latest-york-and-humberside-news/Missing-teenager39s-family-mark-anniversary.4490242.jp