Help traumatised children thrive in adoptive families

A traumatic start in life can affect children in many ways, for many years. Children who have spent time feeling unsafe, uncared for and unloved, can struggle with ongoing issues relating to fear, loss and anger as well as problems with trust and self-worth. They can find relationships and everyday life incredibly difficult and often display extremely challenging behaviour. Read Tom's story...

Adoption alone doesn't erase this hurt. Adopted children will require support well into adulthood and their adoptive parents will need support too.

Adoptive families help children heal and Adoption UK is here to support them.

Thousands of adoptive parents reach out to us each year. Many of them are at breaking point. Sometimes parents need expert advice in a crisis, or specialist training. They might need help dealing with violence from a child learning to trust again. Sometimes they just need to chat to other adopters, or enable their children to meet and have fun with other adoptees.

Our services are a lifeline for adoptive families and help adoptions succeed. About 5,000 children are adopted each year in the UK and we want to raise £5,000 - a pound for each child - to ensure we can be there for more adoptive families in 2020.

£5 enables us to answer a call to our helpline from an adoptive parent in crisis

£10 connects an adoptive family to one of our supportive community groups

£25 keeps our online forums open for a day - providing a safe space for adoptive parents to support each other online

£50 helps keep us campaigning across the UK for better understanding of adopted children's needs