01244 390 938
01244 390 938
Adoption Matters is a children’s charity and one of the largest Voluntary Adoption Agencies (VAAs) in the UK. We recruit, train and support individuals and families as adopters and offer them ongoing support and training for as long as they need it.
Ofsted Outstanding since 2008, we are the ONLY adoption service in the North of England to achieve FIVE Ofsted Outstanding ratings in a row. View our latest Ofsted Report 2023 here.
We are an independent organisation and our priority is to find stable, loving homes for children through adoption and Early Permanence. What is a VAA and why choose to adopt through a VAA?
In May 2024, we launched our not-for-profit fostering agency, Foster Care Matters.
Adoption Matters covers a large geographical area across England, including the whole of the North of England, Stoke, Staffordshire and Shropshire. Check our coverage map here for further information.
We work in partnership with Local Authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies across the whole of the UK to find families for children in care whose plan is adoption, for you, this means a wider pool of children to consider, not just your local area. Hear from adopters talk about why they chose to adopt through a VAA.
We promote therapeutic parenting techniques that support children to begin to recover from their previous trauma, manage their anxiety and achieve their potential in life. Our Centre for Fostering and Adoption Support has vast experience in supporting families to develop their parenting in ways that support children now and in the future through webinars, training courses and direct work with families.
Our innovative support service delivered by our Centre for Fostering and Adoption Support, is a unique service supporting adoption, fostering and permanency to families.
Our Therapy Service also provides a personalised Therapeutic intervention based on a structured assessment.
Our teams are highly experienced in supporting Early Permanence. From 2014 to January 2024, we delivered a Concurrent Planning Service in the North West in partnership with another VAA Caritas Care.
The service grew to be the largest of its kind in the UK placing over 187 children in early permanence placements. The service led the way in the Early Permanence arena and helped pave the way for many of the services across the country. In January 2024, due to the changing adoption landscape, our concurrent planning service teams moved back in-house bringing a wealth of experience into on early permanence.
Our teams are all permanent members of staff and we have very low staff turnover. Some of our colleagues have celebrated 20, 30 and 40 years service in the last few years. This stability in our workforce allows our families to build strong, ongoing relationships throughout their journey with us.
At Adoption Matters, we refer to our colleagues as our ‘work family’ and despite considerable growth over the last few years, we haven’t lost the friendly team ethos of helping each other when needed. We have a staff well-being charter and a number of trained Mental Health First Aiders across the organisation.
Our vision is a world where all children grow up with the security and benefit of a safe and loving family home enabling them to reach their full potential. Children are at the heart of everything we do and we seek to have a transformative impact on young lives; building trusting relationships and providing responsive, high-quality services underpinned by therapeutic support as standard. We will be:
Honest and open in all our communications
Empathetic to your individual needs and experiences
Ambitious for children’s futures, aim to provide the best service
Respectful of your views and experiences and celebrating diversity
Together we are a thriving and growing family
Hear from adoptive parents on why they chose to adopt with a Voluntary Adoption Agency.
Comments from our latest Ofsted inspection report:
A copy of our full Complaints Procedure is available upon request.
The agency is a learning organisation, using feedback and challenge to drive forward improvement.
Adoption Matters is a children’s charity and one of the largest Voluntary Adoption Agencies in the UK. Rated Oftsed 'Outstanding' since 2008.
