St Andrew’s Children’s Society, the adoption and fostering agency celebrated its centenary with a visit from the Rt Hon Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Robert Aldridge.
Many of those who have used St Andrew’s as a service attended the event – adopters, adoptees, foster carers and supporters. The Edinburgh based society is the oldest adoption agency still in existence in the country.
The agency offers full lifelong support to all of the families whose lives they touch, and is pleased to help with referrals to other agencies where they are unable to assist. St Andrew’s Children’s Society believes that their support is “second to none”. This is the only adoption and fostering service which offers SafeBase training which is specifically geared towards adoptive parents. It helps them understand what their child’s experiences may have been like, and to understand that they may have been traumatic. By talking they hope to address any challenges being experienced by their families.
St Andrew’s regularly organise Single Adopters Groups, Dads groups, Adolescence and Identity, Coffee and Chat groups and Annual Picnics. Friends and families are supported with an online event to help them learn about the background of the child being adopted and understand the challenges that they face.
The agency says that the families who are helped to adopt and foster are completely committed to the well-being of the children who become part of their families, but before the child is placed in their care they go through extensive training to ensure they are going to be able to look after the child. Once the child is placed with them the agency is with them and the child every step of the way for the rest of their lives.
Stephen Small, CEO, St Andrew’s Children’s Society said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Lord Provost to our office. His visit was to mark our Centenary year. We reflected on the many years of cooperation between St Andrew’s Children’s Society and Edinburgh Council, working together for the benefit of some of the City’s most vulnerable children.
“Our record of supporting children and their adoptive and foster carer families, and indeed those birth family members who are unable to care for their children, is a long and distinguished one. The impact of our work was reflected in a mix of people who were present today. We had people who were adopted, and those who have adopted or fostered children who were able to talk to the Lord Provost about their contact with the agency and how this has affected their lives in a positive way.”
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