Adopt London, has teamed up with award winning film animation company My Pockets to produce a short animated film ‘Closer & Stronger’ to tell adopters and Special Guardians about the new support available to help them during the pandemic.
Many families have expressed a need for support during the lockdown, prompting the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to announce extra funding to help adopted children and children subject to Special Guardianship orders. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:
“Many of us have seen changes in our daily lives as we practice social distancing and stay at home. For adoptive families often still adjusting to their new environments, this may create additional strain.”
This short animated film shows parents and special guardians who are at home and dealing with the everyday stuff of family life, concerned about how best to support their children and access the support they need during lockdown. Watch Closer & Stronger below.
Adopt London has teamed up with expert organisations - so families get help and also talk with other families in similar situations. There are helplines, online training, therapy and counselling.
The providers are the National Association of Therapeutic Parenting, PAC-UK (Part of Family Action), Adoptionplus, Kinship Response run by Grandparents Plus, The Adopter Hub run by Parents and Children Together and We Are Family.
Councillor Jasmine Ali Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Adult Care at Southwark Council, said:
“The COVID-19 crisis has created immense disruption and instability for all families, but often adopted children have already experienced trauma and disruption in their young lives before they arrived in the safety and security of their families.
“We know that adoptive parents and special guardianship families will need extra support to help their children cope with the dramatic changes of the past few months, and to seek help if they can see signs of anxiety in their children.
“In Southwark we are proud to be the host authority for the Adopt London South Regional Adoption Agency. Our team has been incredibly hard working and innovative in the time of COVID-19. They’ve commissioned new online therapies, new counselling services and have produced a short animation film to promote their services. We welcome the new support package, which will provide an important boost to support our adoptive families.”
The animation company My Pockets have worked for years with young people and families in all kinds of situations making films and art projects that have won many awards, been broadcast on national TV and have been screened internationally at film festivals. Director Peter Snelling made this film by talking to adoptive families and staff from the 23 London Authorities then making families out of cardboard. He said:
‘It’s been a fun few weeks of drawing, cutting out and colouring in. I’ve made five very different families and animated them, but also wanted to fill the film with the stuff of family life. As it says in the film - we all need a helping hand at the moment!”
The Heads of Service in Adopt London explain:
“We want families to sign up to access the support being offered by these experienced and knowledgeable organisations”.
For more information or if you would like a quote from or interview with an adoptive family or special guardianship family who is receiving support, please contact Adopt London Marketing and Recruitment Manager; Candice Siddle at Candice.siddle@southwark.gov.uk
Information for editors
Adopt London is four Regional Adoption Agencies in London, working together to create the largest group of adoption professionals working across 23 London boroughs (Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Brent, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Havering, Hounslow, Islington, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth) to make adoption in London the best it can be.
