The Independent launches SafeCall campaign to help reach every missing child

Support The Independent and Missing People's bid to help secure safer futures for vulnerable young people in Britain

- TARA COBHAM

Every year, thousands of vulnerable young people are struggling to be seen, heard and protected. They feel invisible - at risk of harm, exploitation and homelessness.

Behind each disappearance are families and loved ones living with fear and uncertainty, half a million people searching and hoping for news in a hidden crisis that demands urgent attention.

A child is reported missing in the UK every two and a half minutes. Teenagers are the most likely to disappear, with those aged 12 to 17 accounting for 61 per cent of all incidents recorded by police. Many say there is still no service designed to meet their needs, leaving them isolated at the very moment they need help most.

That is why The Independent is joining forces with Missing People, the UK's only charity dedicated to reconnecting missing people with their loved ones, to launch a new service that will be a lifeline for children in crisis. Co-designed and piloted by young people themselves, SafeCall will offer the support, safety and connection they need.

The Independent's goal is to raise £165,000 to help fund this new, free service, so that the 70,000 children reported missing each year can find safety, no matter what. The charity currently reaches one in four of those children - and, with your support, SafeCall will reach many more.

Actor, writer and broadcaster Sir Stephen Fry and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen, the founder of Childline, are among the leading voices backing The Independent's appeal and urging readers to support the cause.

Among those who know its value at first hand is Jade Knight, now 23, who went missing more than 50 times as a child after, in her words, “feeling lost in the world”. She credits Missing People with having “saved my life”.