As a teenager, Chereece went missing so often that even the police struggled to keep track. In one month alone, she disappeared 27 times.
“I grew up in a toxic household,” she says. “My escape was music and walking. Sometimes being on my own felt safer than being with the people around me.”
When Chereece entered the care system at 15, things got worse. She felt isolated and controlled, living in places that didn’t feel like home.
“It was suffocating being where I was. I was a child living in a business with no home, family or friends. I had no control over my life. My way of gaining that control back was to escape. I felt safer being on the streets than in care homes with strangers.”
When running felt like the only option
Chereece’s repeated disappearances led to extreme measures. At 16, she was placed in a secure unit to stop her from running away. But those measures only made her want to disappear more—and pushed her into riskier situations.
“I wish SafeCall was there when I was in my situation,” she says now. “I would’ve realised I wasn’t on my own. I’d have had someone who listened, someone who advocated for me. It would’ve given me escape – what I desperately needed.”
Someone who didn’t give up
Everything changed when Chereece met a social worker who truly cared. Someone who listened, stayed patient, and didn’t give up on her.
“She completely changed my life around,” Chereece says. “My behaviour changed because I had someone working with me.”
By 17, Chereece had her own place. Living alone wasn’t easy—she survived on £50 a week and relied on food banks—but she was in an area she wanted to be in, with semi-independent living. After that move, she rarely went missing again.
Turning pain into purpose
Chereece worked with Missing People, the UK charity dedicated to people affected by missing, to create the SafeCall service. She knows firsthand the difference it makes to have someone who listens.
“The difference it made, one social worker who cared,” she says. “There was equal respect and trust. That’s what SafeCall gives – someone who won’t leave.”
