About Us

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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, couples and families for children of all ages who, for a variety of reasons, are no longer able to live with their birth or extended family. As an independent children’s charity and adoption agency, we work with local authorities and adoption agencies across the UK, meaning we can consider a much wider range of children waiting for adoption for our families.

To find out more about why to choose a voluntary adoption agency – visit our dedicated page, which includes videos and interviews with adopter families who chose to adopt with a VAA. http://www.adoptionmatters.org/adopterchoice

In May 2024, we launched our not-for-profit fostering agency, Foster Care Matters.

In 2024, we placed 81 children with their forever families and welcomed 61 new adopters.

Adoption Matters covers a large geographical area across England, including the North West, Yorkshire & The Humber, parts of the North East, 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.

We have a staff well-being charter, a number of trained Mental Health First Aiders across the organisation and we are striving to become a Neurodiverse Friendly workplace and employer.

About Us Values
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Our Values

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

Honest

Honest and open in all our communications

Empathetic

Empathetic

Empathetic to your individual needs and experiences

Ambitious

Ambitious

Ambitious for children’s futures, aim to provide the best service

Respectful

Respectful

Respectful of your views and experiences and celebrating diversity

Together

Together

Together we are a thriving and growing family

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Adoption Matters Values
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Why choose Adoption Matters?

Hear from adoptive parents on why they chose to adopt with a Voluntary Adoption Agency.

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Feedback

  • “Our social worker is exceptional, and we have felt extremely supported during a very intense process.”
  • “From the start to the finish, our social worker went above and beyond for us.”
  • “Everyone is thorough and professional, but with a personal touch.”
  • “Our experience has been faultless. Everyone from Adoption Matters has been outstanding.”
  • “The quality of adoption support is a significant strength of the agency. Highly trained professionals offer high-quality services to families” – Ofsted, October 2025

A copy of our full Complaints Procedure is available upon request.

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The agency is a learning organisation, using feedback and challenge to drive forward improvement.

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