Coram believes that the increased time at home during the pandemic has created a new focus on what matters most to us all – a loving family.
Today’s statistics are released as a coalition of adoption agencies across England, supported by the Department for Education, launch a nationwide recruitment campaign, #YouCanAdopt, to raise awareness about adoption and the continuing need for adopters from every community to come forward.
Sue Lowndes, Managing Director of Coram Ambitious for Adoption said “We have seen a 24% increase in people coming forward from March to August compared to the same period last year. At the height of lockdown in May 2020, we saw more than double the number of enquiries than the same time last year. All enquirers can be assured that there has never been a better time to consider adoption. We are open for applications, and we still urgently need more prospective adopters from every type of background to come forward, to enable us to meet the need of children waiting for a permanent and loving home.”
Dr Carol Homden CBE, Chief Executive of Coram, said: ”The latest data shows that there are over 200 children waiting to be adopted in London* alone and more adopters are likely to be needed to meet their diverse needs, especially if there is a rise of children coming into care due to the pandemic. Many of these children are very young and cannot afford further delay.
“Coram is one of the country’s leading charities working to find families for children, providing ongoing support for adoptive families and national Adoption Activity Days, family-finding events that have a 1 in 4 success rate in matching children waiting with approved adopters. These events have been adapted with social distancing measures in place so that adopters from any agency connect with children waiting, providing a special chance for children waiting the longest to be placed with adoptive families.”