On Wednesday 15 January 2025, voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) from across the UK are taking part in a national campaign, Big Adoption Day 2025, highlighting the need for more adoptive families for children at a time when thousands of children are still waiting in care.
Big Adoption Day, led by Coram with the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies UK (CVAA), will see participating agencies hosting in-person and online events in their local areas, and celebrating the real-life stories of families who have adopted, to encourage anyone interested in exploring adoption to find out more.
With 2,600 children currently waiting to be adopted across England, of whom 1,230 have been waiting more than 18 months* and most of whom are aged under five, there is an urgent need for more prospective adoptive parents to come forward to provide permanent, loving homes for these children.
Big Adoption Day will highlight the benefits of adopting through a VAA which provide a bespoke service for adopters and offer an alternative choice to statutory regional adoption services by working across local authority areas. 96% of VAAs are rated highly or very highly by their national inspectorates.** With a century of experience, VAAs have placed thousands of children with adoptive families and provide ongoing support to enable them to thrive through family days, counselling, school liaison, therapeutic services and peer support.
Dr Carol Homden, CEO of Coram, said: “Big Adoption Day gives us an important opportunity to come together across the sector with the shared purpose of finding more loving families for the growing numbers of children waiting.
“We celebrate all the amazing families who have embraced the life-changing and rewarding journey of adoption. We hope Big Adoption Day will inspire others to take their first step and join one of the events taking place across the country where they can find out how we can support them throughout the adoption process and beyond.”
Satwinder Sandhu, CEO of CVAA, said: “We are proud to mark Big Adoption Day as it recognises the vital contribution the voluntary sector makes to the lives of the most vulnerable children across the UK. We support 22 member agencies with their efforts to recruit and support adoptive families from every type of background and VAAs go the extra mile in providing essential support at all stages of the journey and for life.
“Having worked for voluntary adoption agencies myself I am personally connected to many young adults who were placed as babies and toddlers with adopters I worked with. I know from them that it was the support from their parents and their VAAs that made the difference so we hope that others considering adoption will be inspired to attend Big Adoption Day events to find out more.”
*2,600 children are currently waiting to be adopted across England. 1,230 have been waiting more than 18 months since entering care. Source: Adoption and Special Guardianship data Q1 2024-25 (published October 2024): coram.org.uk/adoption-and-special-guardianship-leadership-board/
**Ofsted (England), the Care Inspectorate (Scotland), and the Care Inspectorate (Wales)