Adoption East Midlands Newsletter July 2025

Here at Adoption East Midlands our Peers4Peers support service runs several virtual co-production groups on themes such as Complex Trauma, Parents of Teenagers and Education.

These groups run every other month and are a great opportunity to meet other adopters who are going through similar experiences. Additionally, your feedback and opinions contribute to the improvements of our services by highlighting what support adopters really need.

Our wonderful Peers4Peers team is recruiting!

We are looking for adopters living in our region who are willing to volunteer to support other local adopters. We have a fantastic community of peers already, but we are growing our tribe, and we’d love you to join us. You can do as much or as little as you like, whether it’s supporting at workshops or offering regular one-to-one support as someone who just ‘gets it’.

If you’re interested or have any questions, we’d be happy to discuss this role with you.  Please drop us an email and we’ll be in touch.

Having started our summer season of events at the Nottinghamshire County Show, meeting potential adopters and adoptees, Adoption East Midlands is excited to participate in various community events this summer.

We’ll be at a range of events across the region including Pride events, carnivals, county fairs and galas. We’re also delighted to have adopters supporting our staff at this year’s events and sharing their experiences. We would always welcome those within our adoption community to stop by our stall, say hello, and encourage anyone interested in adoption to chat with us.

We look forward to seeing you!

There are still spaces available at our upcoming parent and child activity day on Thursday 7 August, from 10am to 2.30pm in Nottingham city.

Parents and children will have the opportunity to try lots of fun activities together including family yoga, calmer story sessions, parachute games, baking and arts and crafts.

This is a fun and free day for our adoptive families and it’s a great way to keep children busy in the summer holidays! If you’d like to come along, please complete the expression of interest form and we’ll send you the details!

We’re excited to announce that the next cohort of our Theraplay® group intervention will start on Friday, 26 September 2025.

This five-day, in-person group is designed specifically for adoptive parents and will be led by an experienced Theraplay® practitioner. The focus will be on the four essential qualities found in healthy parent-child relationships including structure, engagement, nurture and challenge.

For more information or to request to book on please contact us.

Making Connections is informed by Theraplay, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and therapeutic crisis intervention. It is delivered by our therapeutically-trained social workers and aims to help parents understand parenting challenges, and to increase emotional connection and relationships with their child.

Seven three-hour group therapeutic sessions (a combination of face-to-face and online meetings) support parents to revisit the impact of early abuse and neglect on their children. The sessions focus on early trauma, brain development and child-to-parent violence with a focus on creating and supporting peer connections.

Starting on Monday 15 September, 2025, Neurowise, in partnership with Adoption East Midlands, is offering adoptive parents a virtual, innovative and inclusive programme.

Focused on supporting neurodivergent children, including those with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), the programme features interactive one-to-one coaching sessions and group workshops. Learn practical strategies to support your children, enhance your parenting skills, and connect with a supportive community.

To book your place, please email us.

As a service we are excited to be involved in the Relationships in Good Hands (RIGHT) Trial of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) which is a research project led by Glasgow University.

We would love to hear from adopters with children aged five to 12 who would be interested in participating in the project which has the potential to strengthen relationships and attachment within your family. Applications close on Thursday, 31 July 2025.

Please contact our team for more information.