works to protect children from the threat of abduction.
Our goals are to ensure that:
We can only achieve our goals by working with others. From national government and police agencies right through to local school teachers and parents – we aim to make it everyone’s business to keep children safe.
Our core value is that measures to tackle child abduction should promote a full and healthy childhood and should not create a climate of fear. We want children – and adults – to be confident and engaged in their communities, not isolated from them.
Action Against Abduction (formerly Parents and Abducted Children Together) was founded in 1999 by Lady (Catherine) Meyer, CBE. Catherine had herself suffered the tragedy of being forcibly separated from her two children (the story of her struggle to get her children back is vividly described in two books, Two Children Behind A Wall and They Are My Children Too). In 2012 Catherine was made a CBE by Her Majesty the Queen in her Jubilee Birthday Honours for “Services to Children and Families.”
Action Against Abduction has helped drive major changes to child protection policies in the UK and abroad. For example,
Trustee
Geoff has extensive policy and research experience in the field of child abduction and missing persons. He has written several analyses of child abduction in the UK and is the author of ‘Beyond Stranger Danger’ which paved the way for the development of Clever Never Goes.
Geoff started his career as a researcher at the Home Office, working on the police investigation of serious crime and the police response to missing person enquiries. In 2007 he became Director of Policy and Research at Missing People, where he led a major programme of research on missing persons and the impact of going missing.
Trustee
Ben Glazier founded his branding and graphic design agency Glazier Design in 1998. The agency has its main studio in Great Portland Street and works for fashion, PR, law, finance, healthcare and charity sector clients. Ben read law at university, but with a natural family inclination towards design and communication, the desire to make the world not just a better place, but a better looking place, was too much to resist. Ben also acts as a brand consultant and board member to several finance and fashion companies. If Ben finds any time to escape work, he spends as much of it as possible with his wife Angie and his three young children.
Founder and President
Lady Meyer founded Action Against Abduction (formerly known as PACT) in 1999 to raise awareness and understanding of child abduction in all its forms and to improve child protection policies and practices in the UK. She is recognised internationally as a leading expert on parental child abduction across frontiers. She gave evidence on several occasions to committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives and to the Belgian Senate. She was a driving force behind the adoption by the UK police of the Missingkids website and the Child Rescue Alert. Meyer was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by HM The Queen in her 2012 Jubilee Birthday Honours for “services to children and families”. Lady Meyer retired as CEO of the charity in 2016.
Trustee
Jacky is the recently retired Head Teacher of Crofton Hammond Infant School, Stubbington, Hampshire, where Clever Never Goes was developed. She was keen to become involved with this project having found previous ‘Stranger Danger’ resources out-dated and inappropriate for the current climate. Jacky says: “I was delighted to be a part of the team who devised these materials. It was important for us all that the resources were developed and trialled in schools so that we could be sure they were based on sound teaching practices and were possible to deliver to a class of 30 children. The school used P4C (Philosophy for Children) as a teaching tool and much of what we produced uses the same approach. ‘Clever’ is now an important part of the whole school Safeguarding curriculum and is used regularly with the children, and additionally, whenever we hear a report of an incident locally. I am so committed to this as a way of helping empower children to make good choices that I made the decision to become a trustee of the charity. I am incredibly proud that this resource is now used across the country – and beyond – by so many schools.”
Trustee
Ben is passionate about bringing his skills in strategy, business development, operational setup and creative thinking to organisations to help them succeed.
He started his career at consultancy firm LogicaCMG working for clients including the Foreign Office, Public Guardianship Office, UBS and the Medical Research Council. After a brief period in the third sector working with Community Service Volunteers, Ben moved into project management at JP Morgan, coordinating teams globally. More recently he co-founded a media company creating video content with a range of clients including the NHS, Metropolitan Police, Mayor of London and the British Youth Council.
Ben is now the founder of Ethical Creatives, a marketing and content consultancy that focuses on social impact. Away from his work, Ben enjoys valuable time with family or pursuing his passion for landscape photography, travel and baked goods – even better when they can be combined.
Action Against Abduction receives generous support from:
The Worshipful Company of Leathersellers
If you, your company or foundation would like to discuss opportunities to support Action Against Abduction please contact support@actionagainstabduction.org
