New You Can Adopt campaign, Every Day is Everything, is launched

A new report from Adoption England and Coram has warned that, by 2030, there may only be enough approved adoptive families to meet 13% of the need from children seeking a permanent home, if registrations decline further. However, the report shows that if adopter registrations returned to the levels achieved just a few years ago, permanent homes could be found for nearly 1,000 more children by 2030. The findings come as a new campaign urges more people to come forward and consider adoption to help turn the tide.

The analysis highlights a growing gap between the number of children needing to be adopted and the number of prospective adopters coming forward. Currently, there are around 1,600 more children in need of adoption than there are approved adopters available to adopt them. This has increased by 52% in the past five years, meanwhile the number of approved adopters has fallen by 46% – raising concerns that more children could spend more time seeking a permanent family in the years ahead.

Children in need of adoption spend an average of 646 days waiting for a permanent home since entering care. For children, these delays are not just numbers on a page. They are days of childhood, valuable days that could have been spent with the stability, security and sense of belonging that a permanent family can provide.

To highlight the impact of these delays, You Can Adopt has launched a new campaign, Every Day is Everything, demonstrating how these outcomes can be changed, if more prospective adopters take the first step in their adoption journey.

The campaign centres around a new film that uses the power of numbers to tell real stories of adoption. Adoptive families, experts and well-known supporters – including former Paralympian and adopted individual Ellie Simmonds OBE, adoptive mother and daughter duo Roxy and Judy Wilson from BBC’s The Traitors, and Post Adoption Social Worker and former Love Island winner Sanam Fagan (née Harrinanan) – share the numbers that define their everyday family lives, before the film reveals the harder-hitting numbers behind the growing need for more adopters.

The campaign celebrates the everyday moments that make up family life, from the morning rush and mealtimes to bedtime chats and everything in-between. While these moments may seem ordinary, for a child who has experienced instability, having someone there every day can mean everything.

There is a family out there for every child needing adoption – but they are yet to come forward. The campaign aims to reassure potential adopters that they do not need to have everything perfectly in place before exploring adoption and that support is available throughout the process and beyond. Some of the biggest barriers people face are concerns that they need to own their home, fit a traditional idea of an adoptive parent, or have everything figured out before coming forward. In reality, adoption agencies are looking for people who can provide a safe, stable and loving home.