There’s nothing worse than losing something which you treasure is there. That feeling in the pit of your stomach wondering if you will ever see it again. It’s bad enough when you lose something of your own but when you introduce children to the equation, losing things seems to become a daily occurrence. In Little Bean’s first year at Primary School she lost a coat, a jumper and a cardigan, this year I think she is doing quite well and has so far managed to keep a full contingency of uniform but I regularly see messages on our school Mums Facebook page asking “has anyone picked up ‘Joe Bloggs’ cardigan by mistake and as a parent it is really frustrating because we can’t all afford to just keep on going out and buying more. Curly has been at Grammar School since September and so far he has lost two jumpers, a coat, his pencil case and a mobile phone, so you see things get more expensive as they get older.
I was recently introduced to a special coding System called ‘I am Lost’ which was invented by Stuart and Jenny McLaughlin of Dundee who wanted to find a modern solution to the age old problem of lost property.
Having been frustrated losing items themselves, or finding other peoples lost items, but having no way of ensuring the item is reunited with its owner. I am lost was born. Appealing to the good side of the human species, a service that will help people to help others.
When I first heard about ‘I am Lost’ I thought it would be expensive but kits start at just £1.95 to design your own pack. You are issued with your own unique code which you write onto the labels and then attach them to whatever item it is that you hope will be returned to you if it goes missing. If you the item does become misplaced and someone nice finds it, the label instructs them to enter your unique code on the App or Website whereupon you will be notified that your item has been found and you can then make arrangements to retrieve it.
You can buy permanent ink stamps, stickers, fabric labels or even a Child Identity Wrist band for just £7.95. With the Child Wrist Band when the code is entered into the App or Website the system automatically calls three numbers which you have supplied until one of the numbers picks up so that you can be reunited with your child as soon as possible.
Obviously this does rely heavily on the kindness of others but we are out here. I have found a wallet on the side of the road which I took to the local Police Station and an iPhone in a baby changing room, on that occasion I was able to look through the numbers and contact the spouse of the lady who lost her phone – she rewarded me with a very large bottle of champagne!
DISCLAIMER: I was sent a pack of labels and my own unique code for the purpose of this post. All words and opinions are my own and may not be copied without my permission.