Reports in the British media have suggested that the fund currently has in the region of £200,000 in its coffers.

“If Madeleine’s Fund remains as it is, with the current rate of expenditure, it will run out in Spring 2011”, Gerry McCann wrote this week. “This would essentially mean that any kind of proactive search for Madeleine would cease. So again we need your help.”

He explained how the funds have been used since Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2007, saying it has helped their investigation team of ex-police officers to operate and conduct enquiries in the UK, Portugal and further afield plus pay for a Portuguese assistant/translator.

Mr. McCann also said monies were used to have a 24-hour telephone line in place with translators to receive information from the public, while ensuring media liaison in Portugal and the UK to ensure that they “convey the simple factual message: there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine has been physically harmed; we must keep looking for her and those who took her.”

In an exclusive interview with The Portugal News last year, Mr. McCann explained that the Fund, which had received around 2.5 million pounds at the time, was at risk of running out of financial resources.

“There’s still money in it”, Mr. McCann told The Portugal News, adding: “I can’t give you the exact figure, but we have spent and continue to spend a lot of money with the aim of trying to enhance the chances of finding her.

On the chances of the Fund drying up completely he responded: “It won’t dry up in the next few months, but probably by the end of the year, at the rate we are running.”

The McCann family has also meanwhile launched a petition to lobby the British and Portuguese governments for a joint or independent review of the case, accusing authorities of doing very little the past three-and-a-half years.

“Our small team continues to review all available information, even though we still don’t have access to all of the information that the UK and Portuguese authorities have”, charged Mr McCann this week.

“Our team has interviewed hundreds of witnesses, received over 1,000 calls, dealt with over 15,000 emails and maintained a computerised database of all information they have received.

“Despite the difficulties resulting from lack of official assistance, they ‘follow up’ all new leads to try and get fresh information into the investigation”, adding: “It is incredible to think that for the last two years and three months no police force has proactively been doing anything to help us find Madeleine. Crucially, there has been no formal review of the material held by the police authorities - which is routine practice in most countries, and especially when a key piece of the ‘jigsaw’ may have been overlooked.”

He continued his criticism of officials by saying: “We have tried in vain to get the authorities to play their part but our requests have seemingly fallen on deaf ears. It is simply not acceptable that they have, to all intents and purposes, given up on Madeleine. We need the authorities to do more.”

The petition created by the McCanns can be accessed at the following address:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/madeleinemccann

_case_review/

The McCanns were named as official suspects in her disappearance in September 2007, but this status was lifted in July 2008.

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