Our Children
Being an adoptive parent is hugely rewarding and provides a stable, understanding and loving home for children in need. Adopted children have often had a difficult start in life and can struggle with relationships and making attachments to their new family and routines.
Meet Our Children
Our Children are the heart of Adopt London. This animated film uses poetry to introduce just some of the children who need to be adopted.
Our Children are lovable, creative, fun and they reflect the diversity of London. They need adoptive parents who can help them manage the impact of their early life experiences. Like all children, they need help tying their shoelaces or someone to make chips for tea, but what makes them unique is their resilience and complexity that can impact their lives forever.
They need someone they can trust, who can support them with love, structure, and therapeutic parenting. Someone to call Dad or call Mum who can provide an ordinary family life. Could you be that someone?
The film is voiced by adopted children who are all supported by Adopt London – their names have been changed. The poem and film were created by the award-winning film company My Pockets.
Founder Peter Snelling said:
Having chips for tea and sitting on the sofa is where my own family have the best times and that’s where I drew my inspiration from… We shape and help our children, but our children also shape and help us. Your house has a lot more mess but is also a lot more fun… I hope the poem and animation inspire people to adopt a London child and to have their lives changed!
Why does a difficult start in life matter so much?
During the early years and even in the womb, children rely on their parents to meet their physical and emotional needs. How these needs are met impacts on how children grow up, their sense of self and their understanding of the world around them.
Well cared for children will grow up feeling comfortable, safe, valued and loved. Adopted children’s early needs may often go unmet and all will have suffered some sort of loss or trauma. Many have suffered abuse or neglect and all have been separated from their birth families. Although children may not remember their early trauma, those children who have been neglected or abused grow up to be fearful. It takes a special kind of parent to help a child to trust again.
We need parents who are able to offer a child the love, care, time and understanding within a framework of boundaries and consistency to meet our children’s needs into adulthood and beyond. The children require a style of therapeutic parenting which is more sensitive to their needs. We will support our adoptive parents to develop the skills they need to help an adoptive child to learn to trust the adults in their life.
If all this seems a bit scary, don’t worry, we will provide training and support to help you to meet their needs.
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