Adoption East Midlands newsletter February 2023

Hello everyone,

We're really pleased at the sign-up rate to receive our newsletters and hope you're all finding the content useful. I'm just contributing a few lines to introduce myself as Head of Service for Adoption East Midlands, our regional adoption agency (RAA). I've been part of the development of the RAA since 2015, with it going live in 2019.

We are constantly adapting, reviewing, and trying to bring you all the best possible service. There is constant learning about childhood development and trauma, and we are always striving to keep up, and then share that with you.

Within the region we work closely with the West Midlands and the further East Midlands (Lincoln, Leicester and Shires), sharing opportunities and practice as far as we can. There is also a national team, representing the 32 RAAs and co-ordinating activity to meet the Government's National Adoption Strategy priorities. We are involved in several projects and work streams, developing practice around keeping in touch, maintaining relationships, matching, and early permanence and adoption support.

We try hard to keep our social media channels and website up to date, so please do have a look. And for any professionals reading, our vacancies are always advertised on our website.

Thanks for reading.

Shelagh Mitchell, Adoption East Midlands Service Manager

We’re always looking for more young people to join our Voices for Adoption group, a dedicated group for young people ages 11- 18.They meet five or six times a year on a Saturday from 10am-2pm, and lunch is provided. 

The group provides an opportunity for young people to take part in various project work, such as designing a leaflet or flyer; recently they took part in an interview process for the national RAA leaders' strategy group. They’ve also taken part in consultation for the needs of early permanence and shared views from an adopted young person’s point of view.

One of the members sits on Nottinghamshire Young People’s Board where the council consults and seeks views about young person’s services, helping to plan young people’s events and discuss the activities they want to do next. It’s a fantastic opportunity for young people to join in discussions, share their views and listen to views of others (which may be different from their own!). It's a good opportunity for them to interact with other adopted young people in a small group and build their confidence.

If you have an adopted young person who you think would be interested in joining, please email Allison Lindley for more details! Allison.Lindley@adoptioneastmidlands.nottscc.gov.uk

The winner of the recent Nottinghamshire County Council's 4UTH award was one of our adopted young people, Kieran!

As one of the seven finalists, chosen from many other young people who were nominated from across the county, Kieran has been an active member of our Voices for Adoption group for many years while attending the young people’s events since he was eight years old.

Kieran has also been the representative from the Voices of Adoption group on the young people’s board, where the council consults with young people. As well as volunteering at a food bank and being a part of the Pioneers group, a group for young people with disabilities.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Kieran mentioned the importance of the Voices for Adoption group giving opportunity for adopted young people to be able to meet together, connect with other adopted young people and also have their voices heard.  

The event highlighted the importance of the need to support and empower adopted young people, build relationships with them to let them know we are here to support them, and that they also have great skills and support to offer to other young people.

Well done, Kieran!

We’re really looking forward to our February half-term activity days which are fast approaching. The Mill Adventure Base days are filling up quickly, but we still have some spaces available for our 3-8-year-old events in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Take a look at our upcoming events in February for more information and drop us an email if you’d like to book a place. They’re a fantastic opportunity for your children to have fun, make some new friends and build their confidence.

We hope to see you there!