A North West independent adoption agency has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the shortage of adopters in the region.
Caritas Care has worked with Rossendale students to create a piece of artwork which introduces their awareness campaign, Dear Adopter, which has been launched to coincide with International Children’s Day.
Alder Grange students in Rawtenstall were given a pile of paper equivalent to the paperwork involved in adopting a child to create a piece of art demonstrating what family means to them.
The group of year seven students decided to write down words which described what family means selecting words like ‘forever’, ‘love’ and ‘support’. They each created individual pieces of art which came together to create a poignant collage of meaningful words.
Caritas Care’s Dear Adopter campaign has launched on International Children’s Day, 1st June, a day which honours children globally. The campaign aims to recruit more adopters for children who need them across the North West.
Emily Winnarg, Alder Grange year seven student, said: “Family is the people that are there for you no matter what, forever. All of us need a family. If you don’t have family, you don’t have people to look after you if you are lonely.”
Kath Burton, Adoption Practice Manager at Caritas Care said: “By using the equivalent amount of paper to the average adoption case the children have helped us to demonstrate that, yes, the adoption process is thorough but every part of it is important and worthwhile when trying to put together the perfect family for both child and adopter.”
“We decided to get the school involved in expressing our message because as young people they can provide a special and unique perspective on what being a family really means. It became very clear to us that giving birth was not a prerequisite for any of these children. Love, care and a sense of belonging are what truly makes a family.”
The Dear Adopter campaign also asks adopters to write letters to themselves at the beginning of the adoption process and share their journeys and stories on social media.
One of the first Dear Adopter letter writers is Lauren Double from Colne in Lancashire. Lauren has adopted a little girl, Katy, with Caritas Care and has recently had a birth son, Jonah. In her letter she talks about how completing her family made the long journey worthwhile.
Lauren wrote: “Our journey through heartache and longing finally makes sense. It is true that the greatest things of all come to those who wait. Keep the faith that some things are meant to be, through the good and bad just keep going and one day, as you cradle your child you’ll understand the reasoning behind your journey.”
