Slough joins Coram’s Ambitious for Adoption agency

The partnership between the UK’s oldest children’s charity Coram and several local authorities, was launched in 2019 and aims to bring together expertise to match more children waiting to be adopted more quickly with their new adoptive families. 

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Slough Borough Council has become the ninth local authority to join the RAA which accepts adoption enquiries from across London and surrounding counties.

Recent reports by Coram show that the charity has seen enquiries from prospective adopters increase since the start of the pandemic, with a 16 per cent rise between March 2020 and February 2021 compared with the previous year.

Dr Carol Homden, chief executive of Coram, said: “We look forward to working in partnership with colleagues at Slough to enable the timely matching of children and adopters and to then ensure that all families have access to high-quality adoption support.” 

Eleni Ioannides, director of children’s services at Slough Borough Council, said: “We all want the best for the children in our care and by joining this partnership with Coram Ambitious for Adoption, we will be able to find more loving, nurturing homes for those children, providing them with the stability they need in order to thrive.”  

The move comes after Slough regained control of an independent children’s services trust established in October 2015 after the Department for Education intervened to remove responsibility for children's services from the council.

The trust transitioned to Slough Children First, a company wholly-owned by the council, on 1 April following an improved Ofsted rating in March 2019.

Coram Ambitious for Adoption provides adoption services for: Harrow, Hillingdon, Bromley, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, The City of London and the bi-borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.