More than 1,400 children have found adoptive families through Coram’s Adoption Activity Days since they began in 2011.
These figures, published in a new report, “Transforming the Lives of Children Who Wait : Ten Years of Adoption Activity Days” equate to a match for 1 in every 4 children attending an activity day – a higher number of matches between children and families than any other adoption agency has achieved over the same period.
The report also features a number of key findings about the effectiveness of adoption activity days including data showing that:
- 40% of approved adopters attending the events said it helped to broaden their perspective and change their view of the type of child or number of children they’d like to adopt.
- 50% of approved adopters attending said it positively impacted their adoption journey – even if they were not matched with a child as a result.
- A third of children attending the events had additional complex needs, a third were from black or minority ethnic backgrounds, a quarter were part of a sibling group and three-quarters were boys.
- Before the pandemic when activity days were running twice a month, 41% of children awaiting adoption had been waiting at least 18 months. In March 2021 – when pandemic restrictions had limited the frequency and scale of events over the past year – it had risen to above 50%.
Read the full report here.