One of the first regional adoption agencies in the country has opened its doors to adopters.
Together for Adoption brings together the adoption services of five local authorities – Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan.
On Friday 1 September, Together for Adoption officially launched with a grand opening of its new base in Warrington.
Current figures show there are around 30 children in the area covered by Together for Adoption waiting to be adopted and the service will be looking to find families for around 140 children a year.
Speaking after opening with staff and partners from across the region, Bryan Glover, Head of Service for Together for Adoption, said: “Together for Adoption is bringing together outstanding expertise from across the region under one roof and we have talented and dedicated staff and partner organisations who will continue to offer the outstanding service people who have adopted have experienced.
“We will be looking to build on these strengths to giving everyone who is interested in adopting, or has successfully adopted, the right support throughout their journey. We know this has been highly valued by adopters and we will continue to offer that professional compassionate and thorough care to ensure children and adopters have the best possible outcomes. It is a really rewarding job, particularly when we hear from families years down the line who have had their lives transformed, for the better, through adoption.”
The move follows an announcement from Government in 2015, allowing councils to merge their adoption services and proposing they be run on a regional basis by 2020.
By bringing the teams together it is hoped the process of adoption will be easier, increasing the number of children adopted and improving the experience for adopters.
Councillor Jeanette Banks, St Helens Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Young People and Education, said: “Working together on adoption helps us to recruit new families more effectively across the region and ensure every child is placed with the right family.
“It allows us to share best practice, pool our resources and make our services even better, which means families will get the support they need at every stage of their adoption journey.”
Together for Adoption will hold a pop-up shop event in St Helens town centre’s Hardshaw Centre on Tuesday 5 September from 10am-3pm, where there will be advice on how to start the journey of adoption as well as the kind of support both pre and post-adoption families can expect to receive.
If you can’t make it along to the event to chat with a member of the friendly team, visit www.togetherforadoption.co.uk or call 01942 478272 to find out more about the new service, and hear from real adopters on their life-changing experiences.
Main photo – The official unveiling at the new Together for Adoption centre, with councillors, staff and officers from the five local authorities that have joined up.
Additional photo – The new base in Warrington features artwork designed by children who have been adopted.
