This Christmas, the recognisable turquoise backpacks of Deliveroo riders will look a little different: they’ll be plastered with posters of missing people.
The aim is to try and reunite as many people as possible with their missing loved ones in the lead up to 25 December.
Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK – and while 80 per cent are found within 24 hours, one in five cases take longer. If someone is not found within a week their chances of being found reduces dramatically, according to the charity.
Deliveroo has teamed up with charity Missing People for its Ride to Find campaign, a worthy cause which will see 500 riders sporting mobile billboards across London, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham, with a view to reaching more people than ever before.
Jo Youle, chief executive at Missing People, said they are “thrilled” to partner with the delivery company. “Deliveroo will help us to reunite missing people with their families this December and will be able to reach people and places Missing People cannot reach,” she said.
Using the Deliveroo app, customers can donate to Missing People, which also provides free and confidential support by phone, text or email 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to anyone affected by a disappearance.
Every single rider in the company’s 15,000 plus fleet will also be encouraged to sign up to receive Missing People’s Child Rescue alerts, which notify people whenever a child in their area is considered to be at risk of coming to harm.
“The money raised by Deliveroo and their customers will help us to continue to search across the UK for missing people and support the estimated one million people who are affected by a disappearance,” said Youle.
Will Shu, Deliveroo CEO and the company’s first ever rider, said: “We hope that over the holidays, our Ride to Find campaign will help bring missing people home to their friends and family as well as raise awareness and funds for the Missing People charity.”
If anyone has any information on any of the appeals featured in the Ride to Find campaign, they should contact Missing People anonymously by calling 116 000 or by emailing 116000@missingpeople.org.uk or call the police on 101.