Six years ago this month, as the news was full of a virus spreading from China through Italy, I headed to a café for a precious two hours. I wanted to make notes about something that had changed our lives. I wanted to share this joy with other families like ours. Our Specialist Support Worker, Jade, was at home helping my children create 3D models of Minecraft characters. I left the house, confident that Jade could handle anything that came up and that I wouldn’t have to spend a long time regulating and calming them when I got back. They were having fun and I could have a break. I knew if this could help us, it could help others …

This National Adoption Week, we want to talk respite, and share the findings from our survey this summer on respite at home. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to take part.
This #NationalAdoptionWeek we can think of no better time to talk about how parents at home are – or are not – supported. In particular, we want to talk about respite.

Since 2020 we’ve been helping families to have stronger relationships by finding and training Specialist Support Workers to offer trauma-responsive childcare at home.