Listening to Young Runaways

Each year, 77 000 people under 16 are reported missing in the UK.*
At the end of June, a new teacher's manual of 4 lessons and activities called Running Away; A Cry for Help? will be published. The new education resource, produced by the Children & Youth Partnership Foundation (NCB) and the National Missing Persons Helpline (NMPH) is aimed at 11 to 14 year olds and is designed to:

• Focus on preventative action, helping young people to develop the skills and resources to tackle the causes of running away
• Equip young people with knowledge and understanding of the realities of running away and going missing
• Help young people find alternatives to running away
• Make running away an absolute last, rather than a first, resort

Young people are more likely to run away when they think they have no one to talk to or do not know where to go for help. Many of the young callers to NMPH's Message Home Helpline say they left because they couldn't find someone who would understand their problems.

One in nine young people run away before the age of 16* and most of these are in the 14 to 15 age group. They come from a wide range of backgrounds and leave home for a variety of reasons, such as family conflict, bullying, depression and other personal problems. Some are even forced to leave. Luckily, the vast majority of young runaways return, or are found, within 48 hours. However, many stay away for long periods, increasing the risk of becoming involved in crime or other social ills.

The consequences of running away or going missing can be serious: young runaways are 5 times more likely than other young people to have drug problems; 3 times more likely to be truanting; and 7 times more likely to be physically abused. Running away can also lead to problems later in life. Adults with serious problems such as crime, drug abuse or homelessness often ran away as children. *

The Running Away: A Cry for Help resource contains a wide selection of exercises including role-playing and creative writing. It forms part of NCB's Make a Connection life skills programme, supported by Nokia since 2000. Other exercises use case studies of true-life experiences taken from NMPH files.

Running Away: A Cry for Help? will be available to schools across the country from the beginning of the next academic year, September 2003.

About NMPH

• National Missing Persons Helpline (NMPH) was established as a charity in 1992.
• NMPH is dedicated to helping missing persons, their families and those who care for them and has the most detailed 'missing persons' database in the country.
• NMPH's Message Home Helpline is a confidential helpline for people who have left home/run away. Over 75% of calls received by the Message Home Helpline are from people under 16 years of age.

For information about NMPH please visit our web site www.missingpersons.org

About Make a Connection

Make a Connection is a global initiative launched in 2000 by the International Youth Foundation and Nokia to promote positive children and youth development. The over-arching goal of this multi-year programme is to provide young people with an opportunity to make a connection with themselves, with their families and peers, and with the community where they live. Make a Connection is now being run across 5 continents -- more and more young people are experiencing success in their personal progress and demonstrating that they have the power to shape their own future.

In the United Kingdom, the Make a Connection programme is implemented by the Children and Youth Partnership Foundation (NCB) and consists of a life skills teaching resource for students aged 11-14 called the Make a Connection Life Skills Teacher's Manual. The programme also includes support for teachers such as training, evaluation materials and other resources on its website (www.makeaconnection.org.uk).

About Nokia

Nokia is committed to having a positive impact on society that extends beyond the advanced technology, products and services the company creates. Through its initiative with the International Youth Foundation (IYF) and other regional philanthropic and social responsibility programmes, the company prepares young people to embrace opportunities and possibilities created by the global economy and new technological advancements. The company has been an active regional contributor to youth and education causes for many years, with Nokia employees making their own contributions as volunteers in a range of programmes throughout the world. More information on Nokia can be found at www.nokia.com.

To contact the GBC Press Office, call: 0208 322 1922 or email nokia@gbc.co.uk
To contact the NMPH press office, call 020 8392 4510/11/12/13

Copies of Running Away: A Cry for Help?available from Incentive Plus tel: 01908 526120: Product Order no. 150-4404

*Statistics from The Children’s Society Report “Still Running” (1999)