A new scheme to locate and support adults who go missing has been launched.

From depression to family disputes and even exploitation, people go missing for many reasons and, when they do, police do everything they can to help bring people home quickly and safely.

Now, Northumbria Police has teamed up with partners from the six safeguarding adult boards across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear to develop the Winnie Protocol to help locate and support adults who go missing.

The scheme encourages carers and professionals to fill out a form which is designed to tell police more about an individual, so officers will have details to hand that could prove crucial in helping them to make progress during a search.

Inspector Lynne Colledge, of Northumbria Police’s safeguarding department, has played a leading role in developing the scheme.

“The Winnie Protocol is about police and safeguarding partners working together,” she said.

“The protocol introduces a simple and easy-to-fill-out form which will ask about the missing person’s medication needs, as well as contact details of close friends and family.

“Going a step further, it will also ask about the individual’s interests and hobbies, routines, places where they frequently visit or places of special significance.

“This form is so important because it can give us a detailed history of the person, whether they have been missing before, where they were found and where they are likely to go.

“We already have a team of dedicated Missing From Home (MFH) co-ordinators, whose job it is to explore the reasons behind why someone goes missing, focusing on prevention and limiting the times they go missing, by working with partners such as social workers and care professionals to identify support for the individuals.

“This new protocol will assist our MFH co-ordinators and our officers, who are on the ground searching, and will hopefully allow us to locate missing people faster so we can offer them the vital support they need.”

Gateshead safeguarding adults board business manager Carole Paz-Uceira, who also helped to establish the protocol, added: “The six safeguarding adult boards within the Northumbria Police area welcome the opportunity to develop a consistent approach to how we work together to support adults who go missing.”

The Winnie Protocol follows the principles of the national Herbert Protocol scheme.