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Kevin
My Name is Kevin Gosden I am 44 years old. My son Andrew Gosden went missing in 2007 from Doncaster, UK we have been searching for him ever since. - http://www.helpfindmychild.net/andrew-gosden
Posts by Kevin
A Case of International Parental Abduction
Jun 28th
The charity Forever Searching is currently highlighting the case of Ken Renoops, asking for as many people as possible to support his case by writing to their MP. I am copying the suggested format for this letter below in the hope that visitors here can help too. I believe the letter clearly explains the shocking situation Ken is in and highlights the legal and financial problems that accompany it. If you can help, thank you very much on his behalf…
Dear xxxx
Ken Spooner is a British national, he is a law abiding citizen, and he is also a loving father to two little boys, Devlan 4 and Caelan who is 2. Both of these children are British nationals.
For the last 18 months Ken has been fighting the fight of his life, a fight that has cost him in excess of £150 000 in travel expenses, legal costs and lost earnings.
In October of 2008, Zanetta Nyendwa, a Zambian national, and Ken’s former girlfriend and mother of his two sons, took their two boys on, on what she described as a holiday to her home land, Zambia. She phoned Ken, the day after her arrival to advise that she was not returning to the UK.
The British High Court issued an order for the Children’s return to the UK; Ken had to travel to Zambia to execute it. The order was successful, and Ken was given permission to take the children home, however when Ken and the children arrived at Lusaka International Airport, they were met by Zanetta and her lawyers. The children were taken from Ken and handed over to Zanetta, with the help of the Zambian police.
On the 16th June, the Zambian Supreme Court, set aside the English order, that Ken Spooner wanted registered and enforced in Zambia, effectively dismissing the English High Court Ruling.
Ken is still being denied access to his sons, he is faced with returning to Britain without his two British children and furthermore, as the Zambian Court has dismissed the English Order, he will not be able to return to Zambia for 12 months once his visa expires next week.
The net result of this, as is usually the case where countries ignore court orders, is that these two British children will be lost to their Father and their Homeland indefinitely.
I hereby respectfully ask that assistance is afforded to Mr Spooner via the British Consulate in Lusaka who are aware of him and his and the boys plight.
I look forward to hearing from you, on how you will be taking this issue forward.
Kind Regards
The Missing Boy by Rachel Billington
Jun 12th
I am not in the habit of reviewing books I have not read, but in the case of The Missing Boy by Rachel Billington am prepared to make an exception. Firstly, because I am not sure that I would cope with its emotional impact and secondly because I hope it will help to raise awareness of the sheer scale of the problem of missing children.
The Missing Boy
The Missing Boy is a novel about a 13 year old boy, Dan, who goes missing quite inexplicably. It describes both his internal and external experiences and the impact upon his family. On the surface, this bears much similarity with my son Andrew’s case: after over 2 ½ years, we can only continue to guess what made him leave our family all that time ago when he had just turned 14.
I will not give away any further details of the plot of this book, more can be found on the author’s website http://www.rachelbillington.com/ and a review from the Daily Telegraph may be found at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b…on-review.html The novel can be purchased from Telegraph books via a link on this page.
I am pleased to note that the Telegraph review talks of a “modern preoccupation” with the issue of missing kids. This indicates perhaps that the scale of the problem – 100,000 kids a year in the UK – is finally being noticed. The reviewer makes comment about the “improbability” of the police response, but sadly, this is not as improbable as one may like to think. Rachel’s novel is exceptionally welcome in continuing to raise awareness of this enormous problem in our society and its impact upon families.
The official launch of the novel is on the 10th June 2010 and Rachel has very kindly said she will speak about our son at this event. We are enormously grateful to her for her concern and willingness to help in this way.
Kevin Gosden
Andrew Gosden
Bunny Run Raising Funds for runaway prevention
Mar 24th
Since our son Andrew went missing in 2007, we have taken part in more newspaper, radio and television interviews than we can now remember as part of our efforts to find him. We have distributed over 50,000 leaflets and posters with the help of friends, family and supporters. Various charities have created videos, assisted with email campaigns and posted Andrew’s details on thousands of websites and social networking sites.
My wife and I have still not found our son after all this effort, but at the same time we have often wondered who speaks up for the thousands of kids who run away each year from situations that are tough for them? What if English is your parents second language? What if you have run away from a care setting? What if your family do not have the confidence to deal with all those reporters?
It never occurred to us to talk about the subject of running away as we did around other safety issues in our home, yet thousands place themselves at risk each year of being homeless, cold, hungry, abused, exploited or just plain lonely by running away. Losing Andrew has had such an enormously painful impact upon our family life that we hope to promote this issue by participating in the Safe@Last Bunny Run.
Safe@Last aims to raise £5,000 to begin a runaway prevention scheme in our home town of Doncaster. It is a sad fact in our society that many young people run away from very difficult domestic situations, but there are very few safe places to run to and this is why Safe@Last has our full support. If we can do anything to encourage young people to talk things through with someone they can trust before placing themselves in risky situations: If we can encourage parents to raise the issue with their kids: If we can help to ensure that kids who have run away know where to turn for help and support: and if we can encourage the public to look at charity websites and keep an eye out for missing kids, then we will have achieved a very positive thing.
Doncaster Bunny Run for Safe@Last
The Doncaster Bunny Run will take place at Town Field, Doncaster on Saturday 3rd April. The event starts at 10.00am and will involve up to 500 participants dressing up as bunnies and completing a one mile fun run. Other attractions include local celebrities such as Donny Dog and Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers, competitions and prizes, food and drink and Donaster’s biggest bouncy castle.
Participants can either register on the day (aim to arrive by 9.30) or on the website at www.doncasterbunnyrun.co.uk. Runners are asked to try and raise a minimum of £10 but all donations are gratefully received. Children can take part for a small registration fee of £2. Bunny ears will be for sale on the day for £1.50. All proceeds go to SAFE@LAST. Every participant will walk away with a certificate and hopefully the memories of a fun day. To find out more visit www.doncasterbunnyrun.co.uk or call the organisers, Austin Banks Ltd, on 01302 822 228.
