Anju Mahbubani Trustee Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? My journey into adoption started twelve years ago when I adopted my son at three years of age. It was a momentous moment and although it has been a rollercoaster journey, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Not only did it make me a parent but it opened my eyes to how much support these children need. My experience led me to sit on the adoption panel for South London for a number of years, I was honoured to be part of helping other children find their forever families. I have also spent time as a volunteer for an adoption agency within the Marketing and External affairs division. As a voice and passionate advocate for Adoption, I have spoken at adoption gatherings and prep groups for prospective adopters. When I heard Adoption UK were looking for Trustees, I felt this was an opportunity to use my skills and knowledge to help other children and families on their adoption journey. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? My day job as Commercial Director within luxury retail gives me the knowledge of managing a business, developing a strategy and leading a team to deliver. Bringing these skills to Adoption UK allows me to support in many areas where the leadership team requires. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? I hope to see Adoption UK continue to advocate and provide support for children and adults following adverse childhood experiences. The long term affects of trauma and insecure attachment in adopted children need to be strongly voiced and I am keen to campaign for change. There is much to be done and as a Trustee I hope I can be a part of delivering this.
Anna Jaques Joint Vice Chair Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? I became a Mum to my son in 2013 and while the road leading to and leading from that point was (and still is!) challenging, it remains the absolute pinnacle of my life choices. He brings me joy, he gives me grey hair and wrinkles, he makes me laugh, he makes me cry, but I wouldn’t change a thing! My son is now 12 and watching him grow and develop is a beautiful experience. Since he arrived, I have supported with information events and training for prospective adopters, written a children’s book about adoption and supported colleagues and friends who have started their own adoption journey. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? When I am not Mum, my ‘day job’ is as a HR Director and combined with my adoption experience, I bring 20+ years of HR skills and knowledge to Adoption UK. I am also an accredited Coach. I am a passionate advocate for adoption, especially the adoption of older children and have a particular interest in life-story work and neuro-diversity. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? I am so thrilled to have joined the Board of Trustees of Adoption UK at this point in the journey of this amazing charity. I would like to see our work influencing policy and funding decisions for our children. I think the communications we are sharing with the public, with educators, with politicians etc are very powerful. The experience of adopting is such a special one, unique to every child and every parent, but if we can share more stories with others, and advocate loudly for our children and their families, I would feel very proud in five years time.
Anuradha Parekh Trustee Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? I am passionate about bringing families together through adoption and came across AUK early on in my own journey. My first meeting with some Trustees at Adoption UK was a great conversation and exchange of ideas, and it further instilled in me the desire to join the team and contribute to AUK’s exciting mission. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? I have spent over a decade working in the financial services, with a special focus on charities and trusts. I hope to be able to use the skills that I have developed over this time to help develop and maintain a firm financial foundation for Adoption UK as it continues its exciting work and expands to provide new ways to support all those involved in adoption. I also have a Masters in Mental Health Studies which has given me an academic grounding in some of the key areas of concern for adoptive families, including the impact of trauma and the benefits of therapeutic parenting. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? The experience of adoption can feel isolating, but the community that Adoption UK has created is supportive and valuable. I see this community developing in both numbers and diversity over the next few years. Adopters and adoptees from minority ethnic backgrounds are subject to specific challenges both before and during the adoption process. Through their advocacy work, Adoption UK can help break adoption myths and barriers specific to these communities and provide tailored support. Education in relation to the concept, process and impact of adoption is crucial. Schools play a key role and Adoption UK can work with them to ensure that the unique circumstances that adopted young people face are addressed sensitively. Together with the passionate team, I look forward to supporting Adoption UK through this next phase of its journey.
Clare Hudson Trustee Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? I first became involved with Adoption UK when my partner and I adopted a four year old girl seven years ago. We were given a high degree of support in the months leading up to our daughter’s placement with us and in the year following her arrival. We knew that was unusual, and my years of involvement with AUK have only served to underline how unusual it was. I have received a great deal of support and insight from meeting other adopters through AUK, as well as the staff and volunteers who work here in Wales. I would like to think that by being involved I can help ensure that future adopters have the kind of positive experience that we had at the outset. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? I have worked in the media for most of my adult life - first as a print journalist, then as an investigative reporter and producer for ITV, and later as a programme commissioner for the BBC in Wales. This has given me an in-depth knowledge of how newsrooms and the media generally work, which I hope to use to help AUK get our key messages across . It has also given me an understanding of how messages need to be tailored to reach different kinds of audiences, and how campaigns of different sorts need to be able to tell a strong “story”. I sit on the Boards of several organisations and have learned that offering constructive challenge and lots of support is what works best at this level - and there should always be space to celebrate achievement.
Dani Stuart Trustee Expand How did you get involved with adoption and Adoption UK? I am an adult adoptee with lived experience of being adopted and hope to become an adopter too one day. Lived experience aside I have been involved with adoption in various capacities such as in my role as an Adoption Ambassador for Scottish Adoption. This role broadened my knowledge of adoption and opened many doors for me. Through this role, I co-facilitated a teen group for young people who are adopted. Additionally, I was privileged to work with an extraordinary group of adopted young people on a Digital Life Stories Project in partnership with the Scottish Book Trust. I have loved and learnt a lot from all these experiences and was keen to represent the voices and lived experiences of the adoptees I have worked with and give them the platform they deserve. Consequently, when I heard about the Trustee role at Adoption UK I jumped at the opportunity! Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? As a teacher I am used to advocating for young people and listening to what they have to say. Moreover, I have seen first-hand the impact that Adverse Childhood Experiences can have on a young person and am used to discussing such matters and addressing any arising issues sensitively.Additionally, due to various experiences such as co-facilitating a podcast 'takeover' for the Adoption and Fostering Podcast and delivering training sessions at Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA) conferences I have experience and skills pertaining to public speaking surrounding adoption.Moreover, I have additional language skills which are relevant to the work of Adoption UK such as those related to using person centred and inclusive language. These skills were bolstered during my time completing an Equality and Diversity Internship wherein I was responsible for completing Equality Impact Assessment forms (EqIA) for various pieces of policy.I have also, for my work as well as my own edification, undertaken numerous training courses such as on safeguarding, child protection, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Early Trauma. I believe that much of what I have learnt from these courses will be relevant and beneficial to the work of Adoption UK. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next 5 years? Over the next five years I want to see Adoption UK ensure that it is the adoptee who is at the centre of everything that Adoption UK does. Additionally, I want Adoption UK to actively seek ways to develop with the times to continue to accurately reflect the current wants and needs of those it represents. To ensure this happens I believe that the voices of young people and lived experience needs to be actively included in contemporary discourse. I also want to see Adoption UK continue to advocate for equality by further developingeffective strategies to ensure that LGBTQIA+ and BAME adopters are not unfairly prejudiced at any point during the adoption process or thereafter. In addition, I want to see Adoption UK continue to campaign for parity between adoptive and non-adoptive parents, such as by improving employment rights and financial support for new parents who are self-employed adopters.
Emily Boardman Trustee Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK?I am a solicitor who does a lot of work with birth families and adopters and I have become increasingly interested in how we support children moving into adoption, and their parents. I deal with care proceedings every day and see in great detail the difficult start that so many adopted children have and I cannot understand why these children and their adoptive families are not given every available resource to assist them.As a national organisation with a big voice Adoption UK is perfectly placed to lobby for the support these kids need and support their families and I am excited to be a part of that.Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? I have been a solicitor dealing with family law since 2002 and I bring to Adoption UK knowledge about the legal system, and access to the judiciary and other professionals involved in family justice. Family courts can be private places and as a consequence there are many misunderstandings about family justice in the public arena. I hope it will be very helpful to Adoption UK to have a trustee who has been in this system for so long.How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? I would like Adoption UK membership to be essential for every adopter or prospective adopter. With that growth in membership our voice will grow stronger and we will continue to select carefully which areas to concentrate on. I am especially pleased to join Adoption UK at a time when we are focusing on support in education and giving adopted children an equal chance in schools.
Henrietta Delalu Trustee Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? I became involved in adoption as a frontline social worker. I was privileged to have placed two children in an adoptive home. I also moved jobs to become an Operations manager for a post adoption service. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? I am an adopter. I have experience of placing and supporting children in adoptive homes. I was the registered manager and ASSA of an adoption agency and I also assess applicants to become prospective adopters. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? In the next 5 years, I would like to see Adoption UK provide specific support services to BAME communities and using the co-production model to develop these services.
Jordina Walker Trustee Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? (c. 100-150 words) I first came across Adoption UK when I saw the advertisement for the trustee role. Having seen friends go through the adoption process, it is clear that adoption is a life changing event which people need significant support going through. Adoption UK’s mission is one that I see as very important and is something that I can stand by and promote to ensure that adoptive families have the best support that they deserve. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? (c. 150-200 words) From working as a solicitor for over ten years in financial services, I have significant experience in working in the corporate sector and I believe that the skills I have developed over this time can be used to benefit the work of Adoption UK. In particular, I developed an employee network for black, Asian and minority ethnic members of staff to help improve BAME’s staff’s experience in the company. My experience as a trustee in another charity has allowed me to learn about the specific issues of working with senior leadership in a charity and the nuances of the support, accountability and skill support that trustees provide. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? (c. 100-150 words) I have a keen interest in diversity and inclusion and am looking forward to working with the team to make impactful change in this area. In the coming years I am excited about the work that Adoption UK will do in providing more support and advocacy on behalf of BAME children and families to help to improve their experiences of adoption while becoming more widely known for the invaluable work that the charity is doing.
Melissa Shackleton Trustee - Joint Vice-Chair Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? I am a grown up adoptee and have followed Adoption UK on Facebook and simply saw a Trustee role advertised and thought why not go for it! Previously I wasn’t even aware that the support services existed. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? My career has been in Marketing and E-commerce with a luxury retailer and I have no experience of working within the charity sector. But my experience of building a brand from the very beginning means that I am resourceful in my thinking and understand how to grow awareness of brands through campaigns and PR activities. Focusing on stories and good content can make a real difference to brand reach. Coming from a commercial background, membership growth at Adoption UK is an area which my past experience can really help. As an adoptee who had very little awareness of Adoption support services previously. I would like to help Adoption UK become more widely known and help not just families who are going through adoption but older children and young adults.
Mike Rebeiro Chair Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? My wife and I adopted two siblings in 2007 and they are growing up into great young adults. But from our own experience we know that adopters, special guardians and their children need ongoing support. This is an exciting opportunity to bring together my personal and professional interests in support of the work of an organisation that is already making a big difference to some of the most vulnerable children in the UK. Adoption UK does a fantastic job of supporting families, giving them a safe place to connect, and providing a powerful advocacy voice with both central and devolved government. After a near 30 year career in corporate law I’m happy to be able to use my skills and experience to support Adoption UK in this vital work, so that all of our children can grow to have happy and independent adult lives. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? Adoption UK puts adopters and their children at the heart of all it does, from services to advocacy. As an adopter myself, I fully support that approach and am looking forward to building on it for the future. The vast majority of Adoption UKs trustees are adopters themselves and or were adopted, so we share many of the same challenges and joys as the community we seek to support. We are looking at a range of ways to engage with adopters and special guardians more directly and consistently, to make sure everything we do is grounded in reality and designed to make the biggest possible difference to families’ lives. During my legal career I played an active role in the firm’s LGBT and BAME employee groups, and am passionate about diversity. For the past decade I have also been busy volunteering for organisations that work with disadvantaged children. At Action for Children I helped to raise £12 million as co-chair of an annual corporate sleep-out event, Byte Night. I was a trustee of Drive Forward Foundation – a charity that helps young care leavers into full time employment.How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? The last year has brought many challenges for adopters and special guardians. Adoption UK has done a marvellous job of adapting to the needs of the community it serves. I think we will need to continue to find new ways of doing things and providing our services digitally as we adapt to a “new norm”. Adopted and SGO children face particular challenges in education and we will continue to work with schools and governments to ensure that their needs are met. We need to ensure that Adopters from a BAME background are not unfairly prejudiced by either the adoption process or the support that they can seek. In England, we will need to continue to work with the newly established Regional Adoption Agencies to ensure that adopters are being well supported before and after the transition from local authorities. Finally, we need to engage more fully with the challenges that adoptive and SGO families have in juggling home life with work – this has become sharpened with so many of us working from home in lockdown. We will need to engage actively with the business community to raise awareness of the issues we face.
Tony Eastwood Trustee - Finance Scrutiny Committee Member Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK?My wife and I adopted three siblings in 2012 through our local council’s adoption placement service and soon after joined an Adoption UK local support group run by volunteers, where we met peer adopters and were able to share stories and talk to people who understood our situation. More than seven years later and with time to spare and (I thought) skills to offer, I approached Adoption UK to see if there was anything I could do to help them in repayment for their early support to my family, leading to me becoming a Trustee of Adoption UK in September 2019 and Chair of Adoption UK’s Finance & Scrutiny Committee. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK?Aside from having been through the adoption screening process and being a parent to thee wonderful, but at times challenging, children I have observed over time family, friends and professionals in the education system fail to fully understand the long term effects of trauma and insecure attachment in early childhood on adopted children’s self-esteem and ability to learn and the style of parenting that is often needed to employ with adopted children. I therefore have the personal experience to understand the mission of Adoption UK and am pleased to be a part of the Board of Trustees. In my professional life I work in an industry that is subject to a great deal of regulation and which requires good governance and oversight and I work regularly with senior leadership teams and Boards of companies. Charities are similarly subject to specific requirements and regulations across the UK and need an equivalent level of scrutiny and oversight, which I hope I will be able to meaningfully contribute to in the coming years. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years?I would wish Adoption UK to continue to build its membership base and volunteer groups to foster an even greater sense of community and shared experience among adopters, adoptees and prospective adopters. I also support the Adoption UK aim to become the partner of choice to governments, local authorities and schools for advice, guidance and support in relation to the types of issues we see in adopted (but also in birth family) children. Finally, I would want Adoption UK to continue its excellent advocacy and research work, with more well researched, well presented and impactful reports around this topic to influence the decision makers in the sphere of children and young persons welfare, care and protection, especially for those who have suffered abuse, neglect or trauma in their early lives.
Wesley Graham Trustee Expand How did you become involved with adoption and Adoption UK? My wife and I adopted our son 10 years ago after he lived with us for one year on a fostering basis. We became involved with Adoption UK through attending the parenting course, ‘A Piece of Cake’, now called ‘Parenting our Children’, which we found extremely helpful in understanding the reasons behind our son’s behaviour. We also attended our local AUK support group and after about a year I was asked to became the volunteer co-ordinator for this group. I agreed to do so as I wanted to give something back to AUK for the help and support they had given to us. I was asked to join the AUK Advisory Group in Northern Ireland three years ago and have been the Chair of that group for the past 18 months. Any specific skills or areas of expertise relevant to the work of Adoption UK? My role as a volunteer support group co-ordinator and lived experience as an adoptive parent has given me insight into the needs of adoptive families. I worked for 11 years as a Senior Commissioner responsible for commissioning community-based health and social care services. This role has given me knowledge and experience of health and social care systems and the relationships between the Department of Health, commissioning bodies and provider organisations. It also has also given me extensive experience of financial management and corporate governance. I currently sit as an independent member of my local Trust Adoption Panel whose job it is to assess the suitability of prospective adopters, decide whether adoption is in a child’s best interests and to match children with suitable prospective adopters. I think that this experience and the knowledge and skills I have gained within the statutory / public sector are transferable to my role as Trustee. How do you want to see Adoption UK develop over the next five years? I would like to see all adoptive families becoming members of AUK and benefiting from that membership through peer support, training and counselling where appropriate. Based on my own experience of the TESSA programme (Therapeutic Education and Support Service in Adoption) in Northern Ireland, I think the roll out of this programme to other UK nations would be an invaluable resource to adoptive families (and teachers and social workers who could refer into the service) and I would like to see this become widespread in the next five years. I would also like more teachers and social workers in particular to see the benefit of having closer links with AUK in terms of the training and professional development opportunities that AUK can for developing their own knowledge of early childhood trauma and neglect and the impact that this can have on children and their adoptive families. I would therefore like to see more widespread professional and corporate membership uptake with the ultimate result of having social service providers and schools that are more understanding and appreciative of the needs of adoptive families.