National Adoption Week 2025 runs from 20th to 26th October. This year’s #YouCanAdopt campaign celebrates ‘perfectly imperfect’ family homes built through adoption.
The theme for this year’s National Adoption Week is a great fit for our work here at Beacon Family Services to help adoptive families thrive in their ‘perfect imperfection’. Our goal is to help adoptive parents foster connected and joyful relationships over time with little ones and children who can be impacted by past trauma and need an adoptive parent’s love and support!
Want to adopt?
Visit the You Can Adopt website to find out more about adoption. Children don’t need a perfect home, they simply need a welcome home. As a prospective adoptive parent you can also find lots more information and resources over at Adoption England and Adoption UK.
Already an adoptive parent?
That’s amazing. You’ve made an incredible difference by the act of opening your heart and home to a child in need of a parent just like you. Even if times are tricky, you matter as an adoptive parent – sometimes more than you know and give yourself credit for – simply by being there.
We have lots of free and fully funded resources and opportunities available over at our Adoptive Parents and Families Hub – take a look to see what’s there, and scroll down for some higlights.
Adoptive Parenting Resources
Games and activities to build connection through play
We have lots of therapeutic games and activities for kids, designed by therapists and therapeutic practitioners specialising in emotional connection, sensory needs, attachment and regulation. From sensory play activities before bed to giving your child a sensory story massage at bedtime or bathtime or giving them thoughtful compliments with the I LIKE… game, there’s lots to explore.
My Child Is Not Fine At School: Adoptive and Kinship Edition
This recorded webinar by Dr. Naomi Fisher offers strategies and insights for adoptive parents and kinship carers navigating challenges faced by their child in school.
Group programmes for adoptive parents and families
Parenting with Theraplay® – This is a parent / child connection group programme in Sutton Coldfield for adoptive parents and carers. It’s a gentle, practical and enjoyable way to connect with your child, strengthen relationships through playful and nurturing connection, and develop tools for day to day challenges even in the tough moments.
Just Right State Programme – As part of bespoke therapeutic support tailored to your family’s needs, The Just Right State Programme can help you and your child by helping your adoptive child learn how to self-regulate their emotional states and behaviour.
Connect 4 Kids Group Theraplay® – In person funded group programme. Some children need extra support with social and emotional development. Playing with parents and peers in these sessions can build children’s confidence and resilience.
Connect 4 Parents – Feeling alone as you face your parenting struggles, adoptive or otherwise? Meet online with other parents in the UK to share challenges in workshops facilitated by our therapists. Our therapists have lived experience. They can ease your sense of isolation and support you with new parenting ideas to build positivity and resilience.
Connect 4 Young Teens (ages 11-13 approx) – This funded weekly in-person group programme for young people aged 11-13 in Sutton Coldfield is fun, safe, supportive, and led by qualified therapists who specialise in helping young people with their emotional development in a non-judgemental way. It is open to all young teens, including teens in an adoptive family.
Walking with Families – Facebook Peer Support Group for Adoptive Parents Living with CCVAB
This is a peer led online support group for adoptive parents who are living with children with challenging, violent and aggressive behaviour. This dynamic, active group is a safe digital space and facilitated by Al Coates MBE. It is funded by Adoption England’s Community Development fund to March 2026.
lumin&us® Family Wellbeing App
The lumin&us® app can be downloaded for free and is ideal for adoptive parents who may be worried about being ‘perfectly imperfect’, are struggling to make sense of their adoptive child’s behaviours, or would simply like to provide their 3-12 year old with lifelong tools and strategies for wellbeing and connection through the medium of play. Try it for yourself!
Blogs, blogs, blogs!
- It’s not the behaviour, it’s the relationships…
- At the end of your tether? Learn about our process.
- Sensory issues and getting it “just right” – the Goldilocks dilemma
- Holding onto hope as adoptive parents
- Staying on track as adoptive parents
- As an adoptive parent or carer you matter more than you might think – here’s why
- Walking with Families: Care-experienced children and challenging behaviour – Churchill Fellowship Report by Al Coates MBE (download full report here)
We’re here to help.
If you or someone you know is struggling with family relationships, Beacon Family Services can help. We provide a range of therapies and resources to support parents, children and families including our Connect For Kids Theraplay® group and parent workshops on a variety of topics, as well as access to peer support groups. In addition, you can try the lumin&us® app for parent/child connection.
For further support, and to see our latest parent events and services, please visit the Families hub.
You can also explore our resources for instant support, including newsletters, online support groups, and much more. You can also read further insights and tips from qualified therapists and professionals on our blog.
We work with organisations, professionals, schools, and charities.
We provide training to use our resources with families and in schools. We partner with professionals, commissioners and organisations to provide in person and online support for families, professional development and training and support and supervision.