Caritas Care proudly supports LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week’s ‘Change Lives in 2025’ campaign, encouraging LGBTQ+ individuals and couples in the UK to consider adopting or fostering. Led by New Family Social, this annual campaign runs from 3 March to help connect LGBTQ+ potential applicants with adoption and fostering agencies, highlighting the significant impact they can have on children’s lives.
There is a critical need for More Adopters and foster carers. In England alone, there were approximately 83,630 looked-after children in 2024, and the need for families is on the rise. LGBTQ+ individuals and couples already make a significant contribution to adoption and fostering with 1 in 5 adoptions in England in 2024 being with same gender families (sadly there is no data for fostering at the moment). However there remains an urgent demand for more families to adopt and foster and we are supporting this campaign to encourage people from the LGBTQ+ community to come forward and speak to us about starting their journey.
LGBTQ+ adopters and foster carers really do make a difference. LGBTQ+ people bring unique strengths to parenting and caring for children. Their experiences of developing their identities and sharing their personal journeys can equip them with exceptional empathy and understanding. These are qualities that are invaluable in supporting adopted and fostered children as they navigate their way through life and their own experiences.
Tor Docherty, Chief Executive of New Family Social, emphasises the life-changing nature of adoption and fostering: ‘If you adopt or foster, you’ll change lives in 2025. Caring for a looked-after child transforms both your life and theirs. As LGBTQ+ people, we know what it means to develop our identity and navigate sharing information about ourselves with others. As a community, we’re uniquely well-placed to help adopted children and those in foster care navigate the reality of their lives.’
Change a life today! We are appealing to LGBTQ+ individuals and couples to explore the possibility of adoption or fostering. By offering a loving, supportive home, you can make a significant difference in a child’s life and in your own.
