Adoption Week Scotland 2019
Impact Report

Events

1 Parliamentary Reception, 50 attendees
Sponsored and introduced by Rona Mackay, MSP, our event at Holyrood Parliament also welcomed Minister of Children and Young People, Maree Todd, who highly praised the 'Adoption Journey' preparation booklet and pledged ongoing support for adoptive families from the Scottish Government.    

1 Practitioner's Practice Exchange Event
90 local authority and voluntary agency workers attended this event, planned in conjunction with CELCIS's Adoption Task Force on the topic of "What does best adoption support look like to all involved?"  The event featured Life Story specialist Richard Rose.

1 Poetry Event
14 adopted young people took part in writing workshops to create their own short stories and a group poem on the theme of 'Home'.  9 young people were able to attend an event during the week to show their film of poetry to John Swinney, Deputy First Minister, and had the chance to speak to him about their experiences.

2 family events with over 100 attendees, in Edinburgh and Glasgow
We took over a soft play centre in to begin the week with a well-attended fun session with over 80 children and families and ended the week with a Lego workshop. Great fun was had by all, and 100% attendees rated events excellent.

"Great to be at an event where everyone is in the same situation"

"My daughter struggles with friendships and it has been so very nice today to see her running around playing with lots of children."

Fringe events included: Sleep Workshop in Ayr, Conflict Resolution workshop in Glasgow, family event in Orkney and several agency led events across Scotland. 

John Swinney, Deputy First Minister:

“Adoption is a huge decision and we are determined to help make the process as smooth as possible and ensure adoptive parents are supported.

“Adoption Week Scotland can really help in that. Our efforts are about getting it right for every child and making Scotland the best place in the world to grow up in. This week is an important opportunity to highlight the huge difference that adoption can make to the lives of children and young people.”

Social media engagement:

Wide Facebook reach and activity from agencies across Scotland

Twitter activity from Education Scotland, Scottish Government, local authority agencies and voluntary agencies and individuals

#AdoptionweekScotland #Ourchildren #sharingstories #AWS19

Media activity:

Third Force News, The Herald, BBC Scotland Good Morning Scotland, Edinburgh That's TV, The Daily Record, The National, The Scotsman and Forth FM

• Facebook
• Twitter