When the Equality Act outlawed discrimination against lesbian and gay adopters back in 2007, St Francis’ Children’s Society faced a stark choice: abandon its Catholic roots and embrace adopters of all sexualities, or close down.
The voluntary adoption agency decided to make the leap from Catholicism to independence. “It was a difficult transition,” says chief executive Alison Miller. “It was very painful, we were very much the Catholic charity and we lost some funding as a result. So we now have a full-time fundraiser and our supporters come from across the community, although the Catholic community still supports us.”
The change might have been challenging, but you would not know it from looking at its latest Ofsted inspection, which saw it hold onto the “outstanding” rating it first received in 2009. The agency’s work focuses on recruiting adoptive families that local authorities can place children with, and providing ongoing support for those that adopt a child after being assessed by the charity.
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