Enabling Freedom, Ensuring Safety

WanderSearch Canterbury is a registered charitable trust dedicated to protecting children, youth, and adults who are at risk of going missing or becoming lost. We provide trusted radio frequency technology devices that can be worn seamlessly, ensuring your loved one can maintain their independence safely within the community.

Get a device How it works

Radio frequency

No GPS or phone

~6-month battery

Water-resistant

600+ Cantabrians supported to date

100+ Community & aged-care providers we work with

Free Every device, issued on a loan basis

Part of the official response

An older man wearing a green device on a cord, sharing a pot of tea at a café table with his wife and granddaughter

An older woman at home wearing a turquoise device as a pendant

A Free Community Locator Service for Canterbury Families

We work with people of all ages and conditions, including dementia, autism and brain injury. Our free radio-frequency devices are worn day-to-day, and if the person goes missing, NZ Police and Land Search & Rescue can help locate them.

Battery lasts around six months. No charging, nothing to remember.

Not monitored day-to-day. Only located when Police are called.

Worn as a pendant, on the wrist, on keys, or in a shoe

Make a referral About our mission

How a device helps find someone

There’s no app to open and nothing to watch. If the person goes missing, one phone call starts a trained search that homes in on the device’s unique radio frequency.

Call 111

Tell the police the person is wearing a WanderSearch device, and give the frequency number.

Police Notify the On call Officer

Police Communications will notify Police Search and Rescue ‘on call’ officer via Whisper text.

Trained Teams Search

The on call officer will initiate a search. Responders use locating equipment tuned to the device’s frequency to find the individual.

Why radio frequency, not GPS?

A radio signal keeps working where GPS and cellphone coverage often don't (indoors and in remote areas), and the battery lasts months, not hours. WanderSearch aids Police and Search & Rescue; it isn't a guarantee a missing person will be located.

See how the device works

Wear it Your Way

A small radio beacon designed to be worn continuously. Each one carries its own unique frequency, so responders can tell one device from another.

We work with the person and their whanau/carers to ensure a device is utilised in a way that best suits the individual. Devices can be personalised with colourful beads, name letters and stickers to suit. Take a look at the different ways a device can utilised.

Explore the device Ways to wear it