Missing People
About 250,000 people are reported missing in the UK each year.
Each missing person means more and more addresses being held by Missing People.
- The missing person’s own last-known address
- The address of the person who contacted Missing People to ask for help
- The addresses of the missing person's relatives, friends or other contacts
- The addresses of any sightings made of the missing person
- The addresses of any social workers or voluntary helpers associated with the missing person
Each missing person case record can generate as many as ten or even more addresses.
"Addresses are fundamental to everything we do," says Sophie Woodforde, Computing Department Manager at Missing People, which is based in East Sheen, SW London. "The more accurate they are the more chance we have of tracing missing people.
"Whenever we are contacted by anyone about a missing person, it is always a distress situation. People do not always know their correct addresses or are able to give them.
"Similarly the missing people themselves. If they contact us by phone they are not always able to say exactly where they are.
"Again the same applies to sightings. Somebody could telephone us and say they saw a missing person in a boarding house or a hotel. They might know the street. They might not. They almost certainly won’t know the postcode.
"Hopewiser will help us fill in all the gaps. They will help us ensure we have all the address information we need."
Says Sophie Woodforde, who started working with the Helpline as a volunteer before heading up their computer department full time, "Hopewiser enable us to be much more efficient in the way we handle our data.
"As a charity our resources are limited, Hopewiser also help us to make better use of our resources.
"It plays a big part in helping us find people and putting families together again."
In addition to the main missing persons database, the Helpline which provides its services free of charge, also holds
- A Reference database; details of anyone who has ever contacted them concerning a missing person
- A Direct Mail database; details of 9,000 supporters who receive a copy of their MISSING newsletter three times a year.
"We probably mail over 40,000 pieces every year," says Sophie Woodforde. "Hopewiser’s software is also a big help in ensuring the maximum accuracy of all those addresses as well."
Missing People, previously known as The National Missing Persons Helpline was started in 1993 by two sisters, Mary Asprey and Janet Newman.
Today it has over 70 staff and more than 140 unpaid volunteers. It has the most detailed ‘missing’ database in the country. As well as working closely with the family of the missing person, it also liaises with the police, social workers, hospitals, care homes, foster homes, as well as various international organisations.
All its work is confidential.
"We are very pleased with all the help we have received. Hopewiser was the pioneer of address management software. We are certainly benefiting from their in-depth knowledge and wide experience."