March for the Missing - March 12th 2008 - London

Tezza wrote:What a great idea crys!
I'm not that talented myself.

But if someone out there is, please do help crys out.

If we could have the wording 'Find Madeleine Forum' clearly displayed, that would be great.
Maybe even include the beautiful banner we have at the top of our pages with all the photos of Madeleine on?

Also of course put our url on it, which is:
http://www.freeforums.in/phpbb/index.php?mforum=detectives

I know it's quite long and not easy to remember, but maybe some people will take note and jot it down?

Are you still going to give out some bookmarks crys? If so please do make sure the url is on it.
It would be great if you could recruit a few new members to join us.

I am going to be looking out for that 'HI TEZZA' banner on the news too! :-D If you see a camera crys, just get in front of it! lol

but please don't go veering off the march just to dive in front of the cameras!!

Tezza wrote:Oh right, so that's the purpose of the 'Hi TEZZA' banner! :-D

crys wrote:exactly! and it will be HUGE so noone sees me ha ha ha!

pam supportfromireland wrote:I have just received update re the March: Please read below

Thank you to everyone who is supporting March for the Missing on Wednesday 12th March 2008. The Met' Police and the Events Team at North Terrace, Trafalgar Square have been very instrumental in firstly allowing the March to take place and secondly in giving advice on the practicalities of holding a March in London.

Please remember this is a good hour and a half March. At the risk of sounding patronising.... please ensure you wear suitable clothing,eg, layers, waterproofs and suitable footwear.

We initially thought of making banners of the missing, but due to transporting them to London and also health & safety aspects (the materials they have to be made of), we have decided to print off as many A4 posters of the missing as we can, laminate them and pin them to the backs of willing participants of the March. If anyone wishes to print their own off and laminate them, please do, we are limited with resources.

On the March we need to stay in a tight group and walk with a purpose. If we all start straying, it will not have the impact we want it to. There will be 15 stewards who will be identifiable by orange, fluorescent bibs and the police will escort us along the route. Please listen to the stewards and the police to ensure the March runs smoothly and no one gets separated.

When we reach the North Terrace of Trafalgar Square, we will congregate in a circle and a list of missing in the UK and those UK citizens missing abroad will be read out. When the final name has been read out, the speaker will drop a single daffodil to the ground, at this point if everyone holding daffodils can then drop theirs to the ground. Once the crowd disperses this will leave a very hard hitting shot for any media at the event.

Here is a timescale of the March


Time


9.30am – Meet and greeters will be handing out yellow ribbons to participants of the March at the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial, opposite 32 Gt. Cumberland Place
10.00am – the March to begin
11.30am – Congregate in a circle on North Terrace, Trafalgar Square. Names of the missing to be read out by nominated speaker, after the last name all daffodils to be thrown on the ground
12.00pm – Crowd to disperse
12.00- 12.30 Organisers and stewards to clear up daffodils


Please ensure you have enough water for yourselves for the day and anyone who can, please make a poster of a missing person, laminate it and bring a strong safety pin. If everyone could bring a bunch of daffodils it would be greatly appreciated. Anyone wishing to make a placard of a missing person, please do.

We look forward to seeing you at the March. Thank you agin for all your support.


Val & Nicki

crys wrote:just to let you all know that i attended the march for the missing yesterday and yes i had my banners and bookmarks that i gave out, probably about 30 or so. i went with three others and there was quite a good turn out. i didn't see any media or reporters though, maybe there were some but i didn't see any.

I didn't stay for the speaking but i joined the three mile march.

i said to tezza earlier that i was really glad i attended, however i felt like a bit of a fraud - so many people there who had family members go missing and they were so brave.

I will update a little later, i believe there will be some photos distributed via the organisers soon so as soon as i have them i will let you see them.

Tezza wrote:

crys wrote:just to let you all know that i attended the march for the missing yesterday and yes i had my banners and bookmarks that i gave out, probably about 30 or so. i went with three others and there was quite a good turn out. i didn't see any media or reporters though, maybe there were some but i didn't see any.

I didn't stay for the speaking but i joined the three mile march.

i said to tezza earlier that i was really glad i attended, however i felt like a bit of a fraud - so many people there who had family members go missing and they were so brave.

I will update a little later, i believe there will be some photos distributed via the organisers soon so as soon as i have them i will let you see them.

Good for you Crys!
What a shame we have seen no media coverage on it though.

You have no reason to feel a fraud, you was there supporting all the missing children and their families.

Still, at least the boss won't have spotted you there.

crys wrote:i know but i made you a poster Tezza and you didn't get to see it!

yes it's a shame it got no media coverage, i guess Prince Charle's visiting Mob Marley's museum is so much more important. :?

crys wrote:great to see someone reporting on it!

merlynsam wrote:Crys, it was on GMTV this morning also.

Report between 6.00 and 7.00a.m mentioned the "Missing People March" in London yesterday and just showed Maddie`s poster amongst others...they did mention her name and that of Shannon Matthews....

GMTV interviewed Damien & Luke's mums in the studio about their missing children.
- They want generic guidelines as to what to do when this happens...
- They want support of their cause by MPs...
- They want funding for their charity...
- They want a nominated police officer in each police force who follows the same guidelines...

Then there was a further discussion at 8.00.a.m.

Richard Gainsford reported "live" from "Missing People" HQS in West London and interviewed manager Ruth about the charity`s role.

Back to studio and Kate Garroway interviewed the two mothers whose sons have been missing for 11/12years. Discussion about their circumstances.

Talked of "ripple" effect on families.
Talked of how they cope.
Learning to live parallel lives.
A "Living Nightmare".

Then KG said, "The McCanns have offered you their support with the march yesterday. How do parents with missing children such as you feel about why Maddie`s case and Shannon`s get greater publicity compared to theirs?"

Answer from mums was that

Any parent would want to have publicity....and that you`d need to ask the Media about their reporting of these different cases.

Matters of gender/class/ethnicity..."

Not all families have access to social networking/websites /huge resources.

Other less advantaged families need the assistance.

merlynsam wrote:Liverpool Echo

Mar 13 2008

Madeleine McCann: Parents back missing people demo

RELATIVES of Madeleine McCann joined a march in support of families of missing people yesterday.

The young girl’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were unable to attend the demonstration in central London but voiced their support for its aims.

Two mothers whose sons vanished a decade apart organised the event to lobby the Government for funding to help those left behind.

Meanwhile Mr McCann has spoken of the couple’s sorrow at the news that the remains of a missing five-year-old Spanish girl have been discovered.

The body of Mari Luz Cortes was found last week floating in an estuary near Huelva in southern Spain.

http://tinyurl.com/yrrfop

heidistar wrote:Well done for going on the march Crys, and you shouldn't feel a fraud, I'm sure those who have missing people in their families were extremely glad of your support.

I really wanted to go and ordinarily I would be able to go up to London very easily but unfortunately I didn't have anyone who could pick my daughter up from pre-school and look after her for me and I thought it would be too far for her to walk too.

I'm glad it went well and that it also caught GMTV's attention. I hope something more will come of it to help those with missing people.

merlynsam wrote:Crys

You are welcome. I wouldn't have paid much attention to the news item had it not been for this forum - and knowing that you had been on the march.

That's why I paid special attention and took a few notes as they were doing the items.

I really didn't want you to be down-hearted that the event had been missed by the media. That was why I scoured for news reports - FOR YOU!

pam supportfromireland wrote:Still, it seems loyal stations helped which is good and I'm sure some more newspapers will feature local kids and families affected. Hope it does some good, important thing and I bet it felt good to be part of it.

merlynsam wrote:crys

I don't think that Shannon's case has proven that extensive police time and good policing works - we already had evidence of this with the Soham murders (and tenacity paid off).

I hope that the tenacity of the police service will eventually pay off in Rhys Jones' case.

I am sure that there are other examples.

The West Yorkshire police were fantastic! I can't take anything away from them.

Perhaps we should send a congratulatory message to the West Yorkshire Police to say how much we admire them for their successful conclusion. It is so easy to criticise - we should be equally quick to praise.

Is everyone okay if I write a 'thank you' message to West Yorkshire Police from the forum?

pam supportfromireland wrote:100% ok

EWE2 wrote:I'm fine with that. A good job well done!

merlynsam wrote:I think I will have to do snail mail:


West Yorkshire Police Headquarters
PO Box 9
Wakefield
WF1 3QP

http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/section-item.asp?sid=2&iid=161

I'll draft a letter tomorrow and post on Shannon's thread.

(I think we are posting in the wrong place at the moment)

pam supportfromireland wrote:Hi Merly, yes will continue on other thread and snail mail will get there quickly anyway. Thank you very much.