PACT's first Ball was held at the Savoy Hotel, London on 5 October 2000. At that time we were still called ICMEC/Europe. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas joined our Patron, Cherie Blair, to pledge their support to the cause of missing and abducted children. More than 400 people attended the evening.

Left to right:
Lady Meyer, our founder, with Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones and Cherie Blair,our Patron at our Inaugural Ball.

PACT held its second Ball at the Dorchester Hotel, London on 10 October 2001. It was a great success. The guest speaker at the event, was our Patron, Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister. Thanks to the generosity of BP plc, who underwrote the whole evening, PACT was able to raise just over £90,000.

Left to right:
Mrs. John Gore; Mr. John Gore, Group Vice President of BP plc, sponsors of the Ball; HE Sir Christopher Meyer, British Ambassador to the USA; Cherie Blair, our Patron; The Hon. William Farish, US Ambassador to the Court of St James and Lady Meyer.

PACT held its third Ball at the Dorchester Hotel, London on 12 May 2003. It was another great success in spite of a security threat that meant that the Prime Minister’s wife was forced to cancel at the last minute. Sarah, The Duchess of York, stood in for Mrs. Blair and delivered a wonderful speech. Thanks to the generosity of BP plc, who underwrote the whole event, all the proceeds from the evening directly benefited PACT.

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Our founder, Lady Meyer with Sarah, Duchess of York at our 2003 Ball.

PACT’s fourth Ball was held at the Dorchester Hotel, London on 7 October 2004. Our Patron, Cherie Blair, gave a rousing speech to a 350-strong audience. Many of our long-term supporters attended the Ball, including Sarah, The Duchess of York; Michael and Pat York; Sir Tim Rice; and William Yeoward. The ball was a terrific success.

Left to right:
Our Patron, Cherie Blair, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Lady Meyer and Sarah, Duchess of York at our 2004 Ball.

The launch of PACT’s first ever public report, Every Five Minutes, took place in London on October 31. Over a year in preparation and research, the report examines in detail the data currently available in the UK on missing children. It draws the disturbing conclusion that the statistics are so defective that we have no clear idea how many children go missing each year; why they do so; and what should be done to remedy this scandalous situation. The launch was extremely well attended and we were particularly happy to see so many police officers from various forces come to it. The reception was followed by a fund raising dinner at which, our Patron, Cherie Blair highlighted the need for better data collection and praised PACT’s work.

Lady Meyer with Cherie Blair at Vintners Hall.

The first public screening in the UK of the PACT documentary, Victims of Another War, took place before an invited audience at the Lewis Media Centre on May 15 in London. This powerful and acclaimed documentary tells the stories of three people, who were forcibly separated from one parent by the other when they were children. Filmed by Professor Glenn Gebhard of Marymount University in California, and narrated by the distinguished British actor, Michael York, Victims of Another War is an unsparing exposure of the scars left on three adults by the trauma of parental child abduction. The screening was followed by a lively debate, in which two of those featured in the film, Cecilia Finkelstein and Thomas Ryan, took part.

Left to right:
Thomas Ryan, Cecilia Finkelstein, Lady Meyer and Professor Glenn Gebhard

The February Great Date speed dating event took place at Stanza Restaurant & Bar in London. A fantastic time was had by all!

Click here to see photos from the event.

Another successful Great Date speed dating event at Stanza Restaurant & Bar!

Click here to see photos from the event.