“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tyler, we have a baby called David for adoption and we wonder if you would care to consider him. He was born on October 4th and his weight at birth was 7 lb 4 oz. David is a handsome baby with a nice shaped head and ears, fair skin and very dark eyes. He is a good and easy baby” is how Families for Children Patron Mark Tyler was described to his prospective adoptive parents. 50 years later Mark is about to celebrate his half-century by having his head shaved in aid of the charity. “I want to see if that nice shaped head is still there!” said Mark.
Local adoption specialists Families for Children are heightening their search for potential adopters across Devon as new government reforms in the adoption process this month means a shorter time to become an adoptive parent.
Graham Pellew, Deputy CEO of Families for Children says: “For years we have battled the myth that becoming an adoptive parent can take years. It has always been a common misconception with adoption that the process is long and drawn out when in fact in the past if you applied to adopt through Families for Children there was no initial waiting time before we...
Devon County Council is asking people across the county to help them identify children living under private fostering arrangements, so can they offer support and advice.
The call to action is part of Private Fostering Week starting on Monday 8 July. Run by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering , the week aims to raise awareness of private fostering. Children living with someone who isn't their parent or close relative for more than four weeks are classed as being privately fostered. Although this is a private arrangement, legally the parent and the carer must notify...
A donation from Haines Watts Chartered Accountants Exeter to their Charity of the Year, Families for Children Adoption Agency (FFC), has enabled the worthy cause to run two preparation courses for potential adopters. Haines Watts, based in Southernhay, raised over £2,000 for FFC through various activities and networking events over the 12-month period. This included an event to launch FFC as their new Charity of the Year held at Exeter Audi with sponsored Exeter Chiefs player Craig Mitchell during National Adoption Week.
Children in care would be found a home with adoptive parents more quickly under new plans to reform the adoption system.
In a joint submission to Government, councillors, chief executives and directors of children's services have set out proposals to significantly increase the number of adopters recruited and speed up the process of finding new homes for children in care.
Under the reforms, councils would work more closely together to help match suitable adopters with children in other parts of the country.
Targeted support work would focus on speeding up the...
As Friday 31 January 2014 marked the beginning of the Year of the Horse in the Chinese calendar, the RSPCA is announcing a huge rise in the numbers of horses rescued and taken in by the charity in England in 2013.
The charity is also highlighting some of the incidents from the past year that made 2013 unlucky for our equine companions.
Figures show that the number of horses taken in or rescued by the charity in England rose by 69 per cent compared with 2012. In 2013, the RSPCA rescued, collected or took in 1,526 equines, compared with 901 the previous year. These horses...
