Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Adoption Service is supporting You Can Adopt in their national campaign as they highlight that the journey to a family is not always a traditional one.

It comes as the latest national data shows a 22 per cent rise in the number of children with a plan for adoption not yet matched with an adoptive family compared to last year.

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Adoption Service currently has 29 children waiting for adoptive parents, many of which are from sibling groups. Potential adopters are encouraged to consider adopting siblings and change the lives of these children by offering them a safe and loving home.

To mark the launch of National Adoption Week, from October 21 - 27, a set of videos and images are being released. These capture real adoptive families undergoing a train journey, whilst they recount their own journey with adoption and all the different people who formed the ‘village’ of support through their unique experience.

Just like adoption, trains connect people to one another and act as a fitting metaphor for the adoption journey – one that is full of adventure and love.

Through these powerful stories of adoptive families, the campaign aims to show that just like all families, adoptive families come in all shapes and sizes and go through ups, downs and detours during their journey. 

A new survey by You Can Adopt reveals that 52 per cent of people in the East of England have a ‘chosen family’ which is a family connected through love, not blood. 54 per cent come from a ‘non-traditional’ family structure. The survey explores attitudes towards family diversity.

During National Adoption week, it highlights how modern adoption and adoptive family life is not always conventional and can be filled with bumps in the road – like every other family.

Councillor Bryony Goodliffe, chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee, said: "This year’s National Adoption Week campaign highlights that there is no such thing as a 'normal family', and this is the same of adoptive families.

Adopters come in all shapes and sizes and for Cambridgeshire we celebrate the variety of backgrounds and life experiences that adopters bring.

"We believe that there are even more people in Cambridgeshire who would be fantastic adoptive parents and make a huge difference. We are always looking for prospective parents to come forward and find out what is involved with adoption.

"If anyone has ever thought about adopting or would like to find out more about adoption, I encourage them to come to one of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Adoption Service’s Adoption information sessions or get in touch with the team.”