News from our partners: Together4Children asks local people to think about adoption
The everyday moments that can mean everything to a child.
The school run. Dinner around the table. A story before bed. Knowing who will be there when you wake up tomorrow…
They are ordinary moments of family life that are easy to take for granted. But for a child waiting for an adoptive family, having someone there not just for the big occasions but every day can mean everything.
That’s the message from Together4Children which is encouraging people across Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent and Telford and Wrekin (and surrounding areas) who may have wondered whether adoption could be part of their future to take another look.
As part of the ‘Every Day Moments Are Everything’ campaign, Together4Children wants to show that adoptive families do not need to look a particular way and prospective adopters do not need to have the perfect house, the perfect circumstances or all the answers before getting in touch.
What matters is being able to offer a child the safety, stability, love and commitment of family life.
The local campaign runs alongside the national ‘You Can Adopt: Every Day is Everything’ campaign, which celebrates the seemingly small moments that make family life what it is, from busy mornings and mealtimes to bedtime conversations, laughter, routines and simply knowing that someone will be there tomorrow.
For children who have experienced uncertainty or instability, those everyday experiences can have a significance far beyond the moment itself.
Rachel Brown, the recruitment manager for Together4Children said:
When people think about adoption, it’s very easy to focus on the big decision. But being a family is really about thousands of small moments.
It’s making breakfast, finding the missing school shoe, listening when they’ve had a difficult day, celebrating the little achievements and being the person who is still there tomorrow, and the day after that.
We know there are people across our region who have thought about adoption, perhaps for some time, but haven’t quite felt ready to take that first step. We’d really encourage them to talk to us.
We aren’t looking for perfect parents. We’re looking for people who can be there for a child. Having a conversation with us doesn’t commit you to anything. It is simply an opportunity to find out whether adoption might be right for you.”
Children are waiting for those everyday moments
Behind the campaign is an increasingly urgent need for more people to consider adoption.
Across the West Midlands the number of children needing adoption has increased by 15% over the past five years, with 380 children needing adoption in 2025/26.
Children in the region spend an average of 342 days waiting for a permanent family after a plan for adoption has been made for them.
But behind every one of those figures is a childhood being lived.
Each day waiting is another breakfast, another birthday, another bedtime and another ordinary day when a child could instead be beginning to experience the security and belonging of permanent family life.
Nationally, a new report from Adoption England and Coram warns that, if current trends continue, by 2030 there could be enough approved adopters to meet only 13% of the need for adoptive families.
But that future isn’t inevitable. The report also shows that if adopter registrations returned to levels seen just a few years ago, nearly 1,000 more children could have permanent homes by 2030.
Chris and Joel adopted their son a year ago, Chris said:
When we started our adoption journey as a same sex couple we had many un answered questions about what parenthood would be like and how it would feel to be adoptive parents.
We have now been Daddy and Papa to our son for over a year and it is magical.
Our special every day moment has to be bath and bed time. It is the time of day when our son is at his happiest and it really ends our day together as a family. Whilst the bath is running we have 15 minutes of play upstairs – this involves him jumping in and out of his ball pool, or one of us carrying him up and down the landing with him sat on his giant giraffe teddy that he has. There is lots of giggling as Joel baths him whilst I get his pyjamas ready and his clothes for the next day. When out of the bath we get him into his pyjamas and ready for bed, with one of us playing silly games with him whilst the other dresses him. Then it is time for bottle and night time story, and putting him down to bed, we always get a tight hug and squeeze, the love that our son shows through this hug is just incredible.
When we started the process we always questioned whether would we feel like ‘real’ parents our son has made us feel so special and gives us the most magical feeling as his Dada and Papa – last week we were all playing in the sitting room and he ran over to me, patted me on my leg and said ‘My Dada’ – the most amazing feeling ever!
You don’t need to be a ‘typical’ adopter
Together4Children is also using its ‘Every Day Moments Are Everything’ campaign to challenge some of the assumptions that can stop people exploring adoption.
There is no single type of adoptive family.
People do not need to have everything figured out before they make contact, and an initial conversation is just that: a conversation.
The national ‘Every Day is Everything’ campaign is supported by people with personal connections to adoption, including former Paralympian Ellie Simmonds OBE, The Traitors’ Roxy Hotchkiss and Judy Wilson, and post-adoption social worker Sanam Fagan.
Roxy, who experienced seven foster placements before being adopted at the age of five, describes how the stability of family life and knowing someone would always be there became hugely important to her.
Ellie Simmonds has similarly spoken about the everyday experiences she shared with her family, from early-morning swimming training to Sunday dinners, and how those apparently ordinary moments helped shape her life.
Their stories feature in a new ‘Every Day is Everything’ film alongside adoptive families, showing that the moments which define family life are rarely spectacular.
They’re ordinary. And that’s precisely what makes them so important.
Take the first step
Together4Children is encouraging anyone across the region who has thought about adoption, whether recently or for many years, simply to find out more.
There is no commitment involved in making an initial enquiry, and support is available throughout the adoption process and afterwards.
To have an informal conversation, order an info pack or book onto an event visit www.together4children.co.uk call 0300 111 8044. The next online information sessions are on:
Thursday 15 October 6-7:30pm
Tuesday 2 November 6-7:30pm or
Saturday 21 November 9-10:30am
You can also find out more about the national ‘Every Day is Everything’ campaign by searching You Can Adopt.
