Story
<p>Viv and I adopted our son over two years ago and he is a joy, but we are aware that not all adoption stories have happy endings. The reality is that children in the care system have challenging needs and prospective parents need all the help and support available.</p>
<p>We are grateful to Adoption UK for the tremendous support that we received after we brought our boy home. I am hoping that my efforts and your generosity will make a positive difference to the lives of other children and their parents as they begin family life together in a secure and loving environment<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">.</span></p>
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<div><span style="color: #f58220;"><strong>Adoption has changed</strong></span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: x-small;">The majority of UK adoptions 40 years ago were babies born outside of marriage and were viewed as helping both unwed mothers and infertile couples.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Today, there are very few relinquished babies placed for adoption. Instead, the majority of placements are of older children removed from abusive or neglectful backgrounds.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Many of these children have spent months or years in the care system and this, coupled with their difficult and traumatic start to life, often causes attachment, developmental and behavioural difficulties.</span></div>
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<div><span style="color: #f58220;"><strong>The importance of adoption support</strong></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Did you know that?</span></div>
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<li style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><em>80,000 children are in the UK care system at any one time</em></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><em>The average age of a child at adoption is four years</em></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><em>28 per cent of looked-after children have special educational needs</em></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><em>20 per cent of adoptions break down, resulting in children being returned to care</em></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><em>35 per cent of male prisoners under the age of 21 have spent time in care</em></li>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adoptive parents therefore often require ongoing, specialist support themselves in order to parent these children in the best possible way and prevent adoptions breaking down.</span></div>
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<div><span style="color: #f58220;"><strong>The difference Adoption UK makes to adoptive families’ lives</strong></span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: x-small;">However, the essential specialist support is not always available to families through their local authorities so this is where organisations like Adoption UK are vital.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adoption UK supports adoptive parents as they welcome children into their lives from the care system. We help them to understand their children’s backgrounds and behaviour, as well as how to apply therapeutic parenting skills as a different method of parenting and supporting these children – something which helps adoptions to succeed.</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adoption UK does not receive central government funding and so we greatly appreciate money that people donate and raise for us.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fundraising for Adoption UK is a way of ensuring a stable future for adopted children and their new families.</span></div>
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<div><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>The differences that your donations will make: -</strong></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #fb4392; font-size: medium;"><strong>£2</strong> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>provides an adoptive family with a useful Factsheet on a key theme</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #00b0f0; font-size: medium;"><strong>£5</strong><span style="color: #000000;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>provides a complimentary copy of </strong></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><strong>Adoption Today</strong></em></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong> magazine to a prospective adoptive parent</strong></span><span style="color: #000000; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #92d050; font-size: medium;"><strong>£10</strong><span style="color: #000000; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>lets an adoptive family access information and support from the dedicated Helpline</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #fb4392; font-size: medium;"><strong>£20</strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>buys a new book for the postal lending library</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #00b0f0; font-size: medium;"><strong>£45</strong><span style="color: #000000; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>provides an adoptive parent with an individual support session with a Family Support Consultant</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #92d050; font-size: medium;"><strong>£90</strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong> enables an adoptive parent to attend a specialised training course</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #fb4392; font-size: medium;"><strong>£200</strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>ensures that vital online community message boards stay open 24/7 for one week</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #00b0f0; font-size: medium;"><strong>£500</strong><span style="color: #e36c0a; font-size: medium;"><strong> </strong></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>allows the running of an open training day for adopters in vital need of support</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10pt;"><span style="color: #92d050; font-size: medium;"><strong>£1500</strong><span style="color: #000000; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>gets a support group session up and running</strong></span></span></div>
<div><span style="color: #fb4392; font-size: medium;"><strong>£2500</strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>brings 100 adoptive families, or more, together for a fantastic Family Day</strong></span></span></div>
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