Adopteens

It’s been a busy period of training for our dynamic duo: Molly and Sadie who braved the British public transport system and made their way to two Adopt a Change training events: one all the way down in London, which neither of them had visited before, and the other up in Warrington, where unfortunately food selections didn’t quite hit their newly acquired taste palettes as seasoned by their experiences down South!

Molly and Sadie are two young adopted people who have been part of our Adopteens service for several years, enjoying our social events as well as being art of a voice and influence group called the Youth Council. When the opportunity to be part of designing and delivering a training course all around adoption came up through BBC Children in Need funding, they eagerly put themselves forward for this!

Inspired by training that was already being delivered by the Children in Care Council, our Adopteens service felt it was time for young adoptees to have the same opportunity to use their voices and experience to influence change, and in 2021 we were awarded some funding from BBC Children in Need to facilitate the design and development of a short day’s interactive training about adoption from the perspective of adopted young people. Its taken time and practice with many meet ups, brain storming, a residential, stage coaching and two pilot sessions with professionals to gather feedback and make changes! Though this 3-year funding is now over, the project is still going strong and – thanks to new funding recently received from Adoption England – we are now on a recruitment drive for our next generation of young trainers!

This first of our trainings kicked off on a warm yet soggy day in mid-July, Molly and Sadie travelled down to London to deliver the day’s training that they had spent three years designing, growing and perfecting in order to deliver to a range of professionals working within the Adopt London North Regional Adoption Agency. Over 50 members of the Adopt London North team attended, including: family finders, panel members, business support, post-adoption social workers, senior leadership and staff from the local authority’s Looked After Children’s team.

It was certainly a packed-out room at The Lift, in Islington, but this didn’t phase Molly or Sadie; in fact, they thrived on it! Quick-thinking Sadie timed her ‘buzzer of disruption’ to perfection, soon pulling together teaspoons and milk packets to have the Adopt London North team run a ‘milk and spoon’ race!

But the event is not all fun and games: professionals are made to confront their perspectives and biases through a range of well-prepared workshops and activities, all underpinned by the lived experiences of the adopted young people themselves.

Activities can be physical, creative and directly engaging, especially with the help of our Adopt a Change mascot: the much-coveted ‘Positive Pickle’ (Hand crocheted by Molly)! Important work created by our young people is also showcased on themes that they want professionals to know are important to them, for example their experiences in school, with social workers, and what identity means to them, and ultimately what they feel professionals can do differently or better to support them in their unique journeys.

Only just recovered from the exhilaration of London, in early September Together for Adoption commissioned our Adopt a Change training and we delivered in Warrington, where ‘milk and spoon’ races just didn’t cut it any more and the stakes were upped to ‘forks and cookies’ and dancing like a chicken! As one piece of feedback stated: “have you ever been to a training where you have to [do that] & that still be relevant to a very particular & powerful message”. Our Adopt a Change team members have thought very carefully and creatively on how they deliver their training in an extremely impactful and memorable way: hard-hitting messages and explorations are interjected with elements of fun and humour that keeps the pace of the day rolling and attention focused (unless you hear the buzzer of doom, of course!).

It was encouraging for our young people to hear how some of the attending professionals had already used some elements of the training and adapted it for use with prospective adopters in order to help them understand the world from the eyes of an adopted child; and not long after the day was finished the wonderful feedback started rolling in and filled the train journey back home with lots of joy, as well as sparking new ideas from our dynamic duo on what they’d like to include in future training events, so be sure to watch this space! Adopt a Change is truly led by the inspiring young people who run it, and as such is ever evolving, and a bloomin’ good time!

So what’s next for the project? We’d are expanding the reach of Adopt a Change to deliver to more Regional Adoption Agencies across the country (and yes, we don’t mind hitting the public transport system in order to attend them!) We’d like to continue to grow the training, in particular by building on our existing topics of identity, communication and contact arrangements. We also want to get a seat in front of the Department for Education, and give them a little education on adoption ourselves! The sky’s the limit, eh?

Special thanks to Molly and Sadie for all of their hard work, and for continuing to inspire us all.

Here is a message from them:

“Getting to do the training in London for me was a bucket list item. I had never been to London which in itself was very exciting but it also felt like we were truly creating meaningful change and shifting people’s mindsets which consequently is the dream for this project.

It was such a fun day and it was nice to know that everyone was so willing to join in and take part in our shenanigans.

The training itself was clearly impactful you could watch as the audience actively changed their minds and opinions based upon the discussions we brought to fruition. This really was the highlight of my year.”

“A couple of moments whilst running the training were difficult and hard to deal with but the support of Gaiena, Tanya, Jo and Vicki made it a whole lot easier and helped me to be able to collect myself again. Other than this the training was incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. The professionals who attended were lovely. Everyone who attended approached the day with a positive mindset and I truly believe most people gained something from the experience.

My personal favourite part of the day is when we showed them the film that we created about our experiences in schools. Some of the facial expressions from the professionals showed how interested they were and maybe a relatableness of situations that you have been through with children or teenagers that they worked with.

The end of the training brought a wave of satisfaction to me. It was partly because we had gotten through it and particularly because the feedback we got from people at the end was incredible. Everyone was so kind and thankful for the day.”

And to the professionals from both Adopt London North and Together for Adoption who attended, thank you so much for your involvement, and for the lovely and motivating feedback:

“It is really powerful being able to hear messages from young people and their experiences”

“Their confidence and experience shined through”

“I was blown away by the confidence, professionalism and expertise of the young people. I haven’t stopped talking about how amazing Molly and Sadie were!”

“It was very thought provoking and delivered in a very fun, safe and enjoyable way”

“One of the best training I have been on for a very long time. Thank you.”

“I enjoyed the activities, it kept us on our toes and loved it all linked together without realising until the end”

“I think it’s important that the young people decide what they feel they want professionals to understand”

“Molly and Sadie were enthusiastic, passionate and honest in their experience and helping professionals to understand the need for change in our system to ensure adopted young people do not slip through the net”

“The young people were enthusiastic and created a sense of fun and collaboration in the session”

“Brilliant, confident and insightful”

“Sadie & Molly were excellent. I learned so so much from them & I hope they know how much they benefitted my practice today”

“Hearing directly from young people has impacted in a way you never get from professionals. The whole day was incredibly powerful”

“Sadie and Molly were well prepared and managed spontaneous responses brilliantly. They were flexible and created a relaxed, fun learning environment”

“A must attend training for the true voice of adopted young people”

“If you are a professional working with adopted children in any capacity this training is for you!”

Where will our training take us to next?

For more information on our Adopt a Change training, or to book us for an event, please contact us on: Ad*******@pa****.org