WCIT MONITOR WCIT Charity Quarterly Dec 2019 | Page 4

Charity Quarterly
At the end of 2018, two charities, CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and Missing People, jointly won the WCIT Charity
IT Award. Each received a grant commitment of £300,000 as a result of their win. Both winning charities face the problem of rising
call and online chat volumes with insufficient human resources to service all the contacts they receive. They are therefore both
seeking to make innovative use of chatbots supported by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, to prioritise the calls and
increase the number of enquiries successfully handled.
Furthermore, the winning projects inspired WCIT to create the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Machine Learning (ML) Exchange in order
to build a leadership role in the use of AI in the charity sector. Among our 800 members are leading practitioners in the AI and
security sectors, and their skills will underpin this initiative. The WCIT Charity has invested in and provided support for this new
initiative, to ensure an approach that quickly promotes collaboration between the winners and rapidly acquires momentum in the
charity sector.
Missing People’s programme of digital transformation, One Safe Click (OSC),
is made up of three main strands: Is This OK? (a triage Chatbot pilot for young
people seeking help); the Website, the Online Communities project and the
Integrated Case Management (database).
Is This Ok? is progressing well - the pilot chatbot began on 2 September and
will run to the end of December. During the first shift, 13 chats were
initiated, of which five went on to be engaged chats, i.e. Missing People had
the opportunity to support, signpost and explore options with those five young
people. In the following four days, there were 17 more engaged chats.
Marketing collateral – distributed via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat - has been used as planned and to good effect
to promote the service to young people. It is encouraging that demand has been higher than expected - possibly due to the impact
of Missing People’s marketing and additional social media activity by their partner Childline. Feedback from the ‘Is This OK?’ pilot
(funded by BBC Children In Need in Year 1) will inform future chatbot development (funded by WCIT Charity in year 2, Oct 2019
to Sept 2020). The other two strands are also progressing well, with a website provider recently appointed. The Integrated Case
Management project is fundamental to the integration of chatbots with the new website, and the completed business
process analysis has enabled scheduling of a preferred supplier in December.
Missing People is the only UK charity providing a lifeline for the 180,000+ children and adults going missing each year, many
more than once. They help find missing people and help families to cope; reconnect those in crisis; break cycles of disappearance
and campaign for change.
“Mohamed is one of the 9,528 people whom Missing People helped during the last year. There are thousands of families and
loved ones, like Mohamed, who are living with the heartache of having a missing loved one. Friends, families and colleagues face
unthinkable distress and anxiety as they try to cope with the difficulties of living without a loved one. Without the continued
generosity of our partners and supporters such as the WCIT members, we could not offer the practical advice, guidance or
emotional support to those that need it most.
With your help, this year we’re starting to enable more people to access expert support digitally: when they want, how they want
and wherever they are. Phase one of digital transformation has begun – you’re setting up Missing People for long-term
sustainability and growth in the numbers of people we can help. Thank you for this amazing support!”
Annette Piper, Senior Grants Manager, Missing People.
Mohamed said:
“When my wife Fatima went missing it
felt as if the world had fallen apart.
I have been supported by Missing People
since Fatima’s disappearance nearly four
years ago. You feel so devastated, and
my children were devastated too.
Fatima disappeared from our home near
Newhaven in East Sussex on a Friday
evening in February, leaving her handbag
and other personal items behind. This
was completely out of character for
someone, devoted to her children and
grandchildren, who kept everyone on the
straight and narrow.
As time went on my mental health
and my ability to continue everyday
activities suffered. Missing People
rang me regularly to make sure I was
all right, and I was also able to have
counselling through the charity which
helped me to cope.
As a result of the appeals, which
Missing People launched through
different media, including the Daily
Mirror, the Big Issue and regional
newspapers, I did not feel so alone
and my children did not feel so alone.
Becoming a Community Ambassador
for Missing People and meeting and
talking to other families in the same
situation has also been very helpful.”
Mohamed with his son
“I have found the support of the
charity to be invaluable.”