Adoption East Midlands newsletter December 2025

Our amazing Parents Together in Adoption Co-production group (formally called the Complex Trauma Co-Production Group)  and the Education Co-Production Group have come together to create the ’Christmas Your Way’ leaflet.

Developed by adopters, for adopters, this resource offers thoughtful tips and gentle reassurance to help navigate the festive season — a time that can be especially challenging for adoptive families.

We’re thrilled to share the 2026 schedule for all our Co-Production Groups. These groups are peer-led and are a fantastic way to collaborate, share experiences, and shape future services together.

Make sure you book on all individual dates that you can attend, the more the better!

We want to hear from the young adopted people living in our region. Please share this survey with your young people and encourage them to have their voices heard. We also want to hear from parents and workers, but especially our young people.

The questionnaire is anonymous and part of our commitment to listen to the views and ideas of families and young people we support through adoption.

Your feedback will help us:

• Identify areas where we can proactively support, challenge, and make change.
• Shape activities through our Voices of Adoption forum, activity days, and work with Adoption England to ensure your voices influence national decisions.

We believe young people are the experts on their own lives. We want to understand the issues and challenges they face so we can better support them and make real change happen.

This February, we're hosting three inspiring activity days for adopted young people! Each day blends creative fun, outdoor challenges, and team games with time for reflection and collaboration.

It’s all about capturing young voices — sharing ideas, expressing creativity, and building friendships. Whether they love graffiti, group activities, or meeting new people, there’s something for everyone. Please be aware that spaces are limited.

Have you engaged with our Adoption Support education offer yet? This January, join our education support workers for exciting opportunities to support your young person’s learning.

Take part in our Education Co-Production Group, explore practical strategies in Solution Circles, and attend workshops focused on school transitions and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Plus, hear real experiences in our ’Building Communication and Relationships in School’ session.

We recently supported The Voice of Adoption Forum in shaping Adoption Panel questions.

Young people reviewed the original questions, removing some and rewording others to reflect inclusive language and the diverse needs of adoptees. The young people also helped create a multimedia video—combining audio, video, and written words — so that a young person’s voice is heard both in person and through the content at the panel, enabling them to present a question to potential adopters during the meeting.

Their work and ideas are embedded throughout the panel process, underpinning discussions, and decisions. This co-creation amplifies young voices and strengthens our commitment to authentic, youth-informed influence for our service.

Family Routes: Growing up in Adoptive and Special Guardianship Families is a major longitudinal project funded by the Department for Education, designed to build a clearer picture of the needs, experiences and outcomes of children who leave care on an Adoption Order (AO) or Special Guardianship Order (SGO) in England.

Reports have looked at documenting adoptive parents’ and special guardians’ reflections on making decisions about their children’s care and the most recent looks at the stability of permanence arrangements. 

To make our newsletter as useful and engaging as possible, we’d love to hear what you think!

Please take a few minutes to complete our short feedback survey and share your thoughts. Your input will help us make improvements and ensure we’re providing the information you need.

Thank you for helping us make our newsletter even better!