On June 30th, Fiona Wells, founder of PATCH, brought together a number of individuals and organisations in Manchester for a “non-conference”, with the aim of forming an alliance committed to improving the lives of adopted children and adults, and adoptive families. We are grateful to Fiona for creating the opportunity for people with shared concerns, expertise and lived experience to meet, exchange ideas and begin shaping a collective voice for change. Following the meeting, Fiona named the...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE POTATO Group warns DfE adoption support reforms risk underestimating severe need within adoptive and kinship families. The POTATO Group has today published its full organisational response to the Department for Education’s consultation, Adoption Support that Works for All. The response warns that the proposals risk fundamentally underestimating the level and complexity of need within adoptive and kinship families. It draws extensively on the Group’s 2025 research report,...

Today we are publishing The POTATO Group’s full organisational response to the Department for Education’s consultation, Adoption Support that Works for All. It draws on our 2025 research, Far, Far Beyond the Adoption Order, alongside Department-commissioned evidence and the lived experience shared across our community. Our response sets out serious concerns about the direction of reform, particularly the risk that specialist therapeutic support is replaced by lower-cost universal provision...