Our 15th Anniversary as a Voluntary Adoption Agency
2024 has been a landmark year for Adoption Focus as we have celebrated our 15th anniversary as a Voluntary Adoption Agency. This has been an opportunity to reflect on the many lives changed and the families with whom we have had the privilege to work over these years. We’ve also looked back at what we’ve achieved, growing from modest beginnings to become one of the largest and most successful VAAs in the country, providing services to the whole of the central England region.
Over the past decade and a half, we’ve placed more than 700 children with over 500 families. We were lucky enough to be joined by many of these families at our anniversary celebration party in the summer. This was a lovely occasion, and a chance to renew friendships in our adoption community and catch up with our adopters and their children on their continuing stories. It was also just one of the many popular free social events we’ve provided for our families throughout the year and across our region. Others have included:
- A New Year’s Disco, plus Bushcraft, both in Nottinghamshire
- Cadbury World in Birmingham
- Visits to Twinlakes and the National Space Centre in Leicestershire
- Trips to the pantomime and Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire
- Hatton Adventure World in Warwickshire
These outings have been made possible thanks to generous funding from Happy Days, Tesco Community Grants, Star Trust, and Love Brum.
Ofsted Outstanding Again
In June, Adoption Focus and Triangle Project, our independent fostering agency providing Early Permanence placements, were inspected by Ofsted for the fifth time. And for the fifth time, our agency received their highest ‘Outstanding’ rating. Ofsted said:
“Achieving positive outcomes for children is at the heart of what this agency does.”
The consistent Outstanding ratings we receive from Ofsted are a validation of the commitment of everyone associated with Adoption Focus to providing the best possible outcomes for children. The full report is available to read online via the Ofsted website.
A Record Year for our Adoption Information Events
2024 has seen us host more information events than ever before. We’ve continued to hold our weekly online sessions every Wednesday evening to introduce people to adoption. We’ve also held monthly events to explain the early permanence route to adoption and its benefits for the children who wait longest to be adopted.
For people who prefer to get their information face to face, we’ve reintroduced in-person events held at various locations across our region. Look out for lots more of these in 2025, including events in Nottingham and Loughborough in January. We’ve also provided one-to-one meetings for people who have struggled to make our scheduled events. We’re committed to being as flexible as possible to make it easier for potential adopters to get the information they need and begin their journeys with us.
Expanding our Services
With support from the Timpson Trust fund, we have increased the reach of our SafeBase parenting programme to include SafeBase Teenage Years and the development of our SafeBase Support Group. This has also enabled adopters approved by other agencies in the region to access SafeBase and enhance their understand of things from their child’s perspective and feel more confident in their parenting.
We were also delighted to receive a £10,000 grant to help fund our new Virtual Reality Project, and we have been supported by several runners in our popular fundraising challenge events over the year. You can read more about opportunities to support us and this blog by our fundraising manager, including the new 200 Club.
Wider Recruitment Campaigns
During Midlands Adoption Week, we joined with Voluntary Adoption Agencies and Regional Adoption Agencies across central England to draw attention to the need for more adopters for children in our region. For this campaign, we were particularly focused on reaching people who would consider adopting brothers and sisters.
In National Adoption Week in October, we joined a nationwide campaign to share adoption journeys of all kinds. During the week, we hosted three successful information events and joined with other agencies to raise awareness of modern adoption.
Adoption in Focus
2024 has seen the launch of a brand-new podcast series. Adoption in Focus covers a range of topics related to adoption and features a variety of voices, including professionals, adults who were adopted as children, and adopters. Subjects covered to date include:
- Adopting brothers and sisters
- The positive impact of adoption
- Contact with birth family
- Early permanence
- Adoption support
The series has been very well-received and is now on episode 10, with further episodes recorded and scheduled for release in 2025. Adoption in Focus runs alongside our popular previous podcast, Education in Focus, which looks at all aspects of education through the lens of adoption.
Secure Homes for Children
As always, the most important achievements for Adoption Focus are the new homes we find for vulnerable children across the country. During 2024 we have placed 55 children with 42 families, with many more placements planned at the beginning of the New Year.
Above are just a few highlights from another amazing year for Adoption Focus. There isn’t room to go into detail about everything we’ve achieved as an agency in the last 12 months – our expanded adoption support services, development of our Adopterverse platform, our website update, our work with BookTrust to promote shared reading within families, and our team’s dedication to preparing and supporting people in the provision of permanent, loving homes for children.
Thank you to our dedicated team of staff, trustees, panel members, volunteers, supporters, and, most of all, our amazing adopters.
Wishing you a very merry Christmas and a peaceful and happy New Year.
