What happens at an Exchange Day?
You need to be an approved adopter to attend an Exchange Day. You should speak to your social worker about attending the event; you may even want them to accompany you to the event. Due to the sensitive nature of the information about the children shared at the Exchange Day you will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Exchange Days can be exhilarating as you might find information about your future child/ren but they can also be emotional and overwhelming. A lot of information is shared at these days about children and you get to talk directly with professionals from different agencies that are looking to find families for these children. Some of the agency stands might have videos of the children for you to watch.
You will be given a time slot to arrive at the event this is to help manage the flow of adopters to give you the best chance to review all the information.
Single adopters are welcome to bring somebody from their close support network with them. This will need to be confirmed by the adoption social worker prior to the event.
Please note, some agencies will also be showing details of families looking to find children to adopt whose needs they could meet.
What are the benefits of Exchange Days?
There are a number of benefits in attending Exchange Days:
- Adopters are given a realistic view of the children waiting for adoptive families
- Adopters might consider children outside of their original ideas/thoughts
- Enables adopters to have more of a direct involvement in the process of matching
- Provides an opportunity for adopters to talk to many different agencies and discuss their requirements with them – taking a proactive approach to their family finding.
Upcoming Exchange Days
- Monday 25th March – London
- Thursday 23rd May – West Midlands
- Friday 19th July – London
To book a place at an event, please email us on enquiries@bemyfamily.org.uk or call 07740 745598.