Supporters of the McCann family around the world have been asked to light a candle, shine a torch or turn on a porch lamp tonight between 9.15pm and 10pm - the time the couple believe that Madeleine was abducted - to show they have not forgotten her.

Kate McCann said that she planned to light a single candle at the family's home in Rothley, Leicestershire, where she and her husband, Gerry, are spending the first anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.

After a week of intense media interviews, which they have admitted could be the “last chance” to promote the international search for their daughter, the couple have asked for privacy today. Speaking yesterday, Mrs McCann, 40, said: “It's a difficult day, but ... you kind of think it's just another day, really. I don't think we'll know until the morning what feels right.”

The “Light The Way Home” initiative has been organised by Helping to Find Madeleine, an independent group of supporters of the McCanns.

A friend claims to have seen Madeleine being carried away from the holiday flat where the couple were staying in Praia da Luz, at 9.15pm. At 10pm Mrs McCann discovered that she was missing.

Mrs McCann's parents will attend a vigil at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Liverpool, where she was married in 1998. Everton Football Club will switch on the floodlights at an empty Goodison Park ground.

Mr McCann's brother John and other relatives are travelling to Praia da Luz on the couple's behalf, and will attend a vigil in the Algarve village's Church of Our Lady of Light. Madeleine's parents have not been back to Portugal since being made official suspects in her disappearance last September.

They have appealed for anyone with evidence to call their private investigators on 0845 8384699.

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