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Welcome to our April 2026 newsletter. We hope you have enjoyed the Easter break and you're enjoying the lighter evenings!
In this edition we wanted to highlight our education solution circles, our home and belonging creative writing project for young people and the Adoption England Family Routes research project.
Creative writing project invites Young People to explore ‘home’ and ‘belonging’
We have teamed up with author and spoken word artist, Jay Sandhu, to launch a creative writing project about home and belonging, encouraging young people to reflect on what family and home means to them, while giving young people a supportive space to develop their creative voice.
Until 18 May 2026, free creative toolkits to support themed writing activities will be available online. Anyone under 25 can submit poetry, short fiction or spoken word pieces.
Selected work will feature in the Book of Belonging and we’ll be inviting contributors along to an online event this June.
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Peers 4 Peers summer picnics – save the date
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our March Peers 4 Peers coffee morning - we loved seeing you and hope you enjoyed connecting with others.
Our summer picnic dates will offer a relaxed and family friendly environment to enjoy!
- Saturday 20 June 2026, Nottinghamshire (location to be confirmed)
- Saturday 11 July 2026, Derbyshire (location to be confirmed)
We can’t wait to welcome you again and share more good times together. Keep an eye on the May newsletter for more details and booking links.
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Our education solution circles
Education Solution Circles are designed to help you navigate school-related challenges. Our next session is on Wednesday, 15 April, from 9.30am to 11am on Microsoft Teams.
This friendly, structured peer support session is led by our experienced education support workers and offer a safe space to share concerns, gain practical ideas, and connect with others who truly ‘get it’. Whether presenting a problem or joining the creative team, we'd love to hear from you.
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Joint event with Family Adoption Links
We recently came together with Family Adoption Links for our first joint pan-regional event. This joint working with our neighbouring adoption agencies is a new initiative from the government to bring adoption agencies closer together so we can strengthen the support we offer to adoptive families and remove barriers for recruitment and family finding.
It was a fantastic opportunity to share best practice, explore new ideas, and reflect on how we can continue to champion the children and families we work with. The conversations were truly inspiring, and we’re excited to build on this partnership to keep improving the support families in our region receive.
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All about our youth voice work
In February five young people put themselves forward for two regional representative roles, and our elected reps have now joined the Adoption England Youth Forum! They’ll be working with adopted young people from across the country to help shape national youth voice.
At their first meeting, they got to know each other and explored the issues that matter most to adopted young people. The group will meet online every month and are already planning a national youth event for October.
We have local youth forums for adopted young people aged 10 to 13 and 14 to 18 and we’d love for more young people to join us!
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New Family Routes report released
Family Routes: Growing up in Adoptive and Special Guardianship Families is a major long-term study 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, the stability of permanence arrangements and the most recently released report explores the needs, experiences and outcomes of young people across adoption, special guardianship and other family routes.
Drawing on young people’s voices and long-term data, it offers valuable insights into stability, wellbeing and support over time. The findings have important implications for practice and policy.
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Sign-up for upcoming DfE engagement session
Adoptive parents are invited to join the Department for Education’s upcoming engagement session on Friday 17 April, 12pm to 1.30pm as part of the 'Adoption Support That Works for All' consultation.
This session is a chance to share your experiences and influence future policy.
Your insights will be invaluable in helping to build a comprehensive understanding of what effective adoption support looks like across the system.
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