Blog
Tackling Fatherhood
I watch as all the other dads stand at the sidelines of mini-football cheering on their kids, shouting out advice – it’s all like some foreign Attenborough documentary. I know nothing about football, and nor does my male partner. But our 6-year-old son is obsessed; it’s all he talks about, giving us a play-by-play of the school lunchtime game with…
Read more
Three Reasons To Garden With Your Children
Lotty is an adoptive mum, a birth mum, a horticulturist and a landscape gardener. She shares three reasons parents should get their kids outside and in the garden. #1 Putting a tiny seed into a pot, watering it and seeing it grow is a great project you can do with your little ones. Getting your hands into rich, warm soil…
Read more
Adopt London say thank you to foster carers during #WhyWeCare campaign
As we approach the end of this year’s Fostering Network’s Fostering Fortnight – 10-24 May, we wanted to shine the spotlight on the many foster carers who work with Adopt London. When children come into care they are usually placed with a foster carer. It’s here children are given the opportunity to really feel safe, to…
Read more
5 Tips to Prepare For Adoption Panel
The role of an Adoption Panel is to assess your suitability to be an adoptive parent and to make a recommendation, based on information prepared by your social worker. You will be invited to attend the first part of the panel meeting. We believe it is important that you meet the people who will be making this important recommendation…
Read more
Yearning For His Dad
This blog is written by one of Adopt London’s single adopters and covers an important topic. How difficult adoption-related questions come up any time, sometimes much sooner than expected, and when you may often feel quite unprepared. It contains interesting content for anyone considering adoption. My Son Michael asked me where his dad was at the age of…
Read more
Eddy Finds a Family
Sarah and her husband tried for a child for eight years. It was a difficult journey but they completed their family in 2016 and adopted their son. At the time Sarah felt there were not many books available to help children understand adoption in a better way and so, during lock down she decided to self-publish her first children’s book…
Read more
Being Different
I’m a single adopter with one son, so one of the good things about the lock down was having quality time together. Having taken 9 months off work meant I could give my son a lot of one-to-one attention. We went for bike rides, played loads, I taught him to read & write, we cooked together, had regular film nights,…
Read more
Reflection on being a gay adoptive dad
It was at a food shop. (It’s almost always at a food shop, get ready.) My partner and son were filling a basket with reduced-price Ben & Jerry’s. I wasn’t there. “Be sure to get some for mum too”, the smiley shop assistant said. And as much as we prepare the responses they never come out as planned, because we’re…
Read more
Mother’s Day lock-down mayhem
Sitting in the midst of lockdown mayhem where rules and regs change daily, we’ve no idea from one moment to the next what’s coming our way and yet sat in front of me my four (and a half – very important half) year old is making me mimic her reindeer impression… She’s the utmost joker and every time I want…
Read more
Which School Help – Easy as A B Let’s See!
Parenting comes with no guidebooks, often advice but who knows which bits work for who; in the end, the buck stops at your door and you make decisions on your own experiences and for your child’s personality and benefit. But with schools – where do you start? For many, it starts with toddlers at nursery age. There are a ton of…
Read more
Children’s Anxiety at Christmas
Please stay safe and follow Government guidelines for Christmas 2020. What to do when the festive season is a challenging time for your children? The Christmas season is so exciting for many children, even with the unusual Christmas we can expect for 2020. For some children, where trauma has affected their early life experiences, it can be a particularly challenging…
Read more
Merry Christmas Everyone
The Adopt London Choir are pleased to share our first ever Christmas song with you. The instantly recognisable classic, made famous by Shakin’ Stevens in 1985, has been revamped by our choirmaster Megan and is guaranteed to have you clapping, dancing and singing along with us. How it started The Adopt London Choir began in response…
Read more
The Kite’s Tale – a special sibling relationship
Adoption is a hugely positive option. It’s not something that just “happens”, it is a rationally thought through choice. By the time most parents meet their new child, they have generally been through years of longing, have shed countless tears and have learnt which shopping centres to avoid as they are filled with smiling mums with buggies. Our children are…
Read more
Some People – A Young Person’s View
An adopted young person has written an extraordinary poem about their early life experiences. They wanted to share this emotional insight. Some people Some people know what it’s like to be called a mistake in front of their friends to be short on food to be short on water…
Read more
Being Adopted – A Child’s Perspective
We’ve been reading a fantastic book called Being Adopted – A Child’s Perspective. The book is for adopted children aged six years old and upwards, and written by London born Abi Dowinton, who is now 10 years old. Abi talks about her own special story, which will resonate with other adopted children. Your child may be wondering if there are…
Read more
Journey Through Adoption Conference
*This event has now taken place.* Adopt London offered a limited number of free tickets for the online interactive conference ‘Journey through adoption’ hosted by Scott Casson-Rennie and Al Coates, which took place on Friday 20 November 2020, from 9.15am – 3.30pm. Scott Casson-Rennie is an adoptive parent to three sons, two of which are now adults. Scott worked…
Read more
Celebrating Adopt London’s Diverse Community
Adopt London is a partnership of four regional adoption agencies providing adoption services for 23 diverse London Local Authorities. We work closely with children’s social workers to find the right family for every child. Our specialist family finders are looking for new loving families every day for our London children. Did you know our adopters are…
Read more
BLM – meeting adopters and sharing ideas
Hi I’m Henrietta, Project Lead for Adopt London, Black Lives Matter. I qualified as a social worker with a master’s degree in 2000. I have worked within the public sector and as a senior manager for over 18 years. I also worked as a Service Manager within Adoption and I am passionate about improving service user experience. My husband and…
Read more
Adopt London Choir – support families and staff can lean on
Spaces available for new choir members. The Adopt London Choir is a wonderful new initiative to support adoptive families and adoption workers, as we celebrate National Adoption Week. It provides so many benefits from a positive effect on mental health to meeting other like-minded individuals, and just experiencing that feel good factor. Watch the Adopt London Choir in action and…
Read more
Happy Birthday – We are 1
Today – 1 October – is the official 1st birthday of Adopt London, celebrating the coming together of 23 London local authority adoption teams as one. We are stronger together as we recruit adopters and support adoptive families across the London area. We are four Regional Adoption Agencies (RAA) – covering the north, east, south and west of our…
Read moreReady to speak to someone?
Let us help you to find the advice you need