Torbay adoption team targets Exeter shoppers

Adopters can come from a wide variety of backgrounds, Torbay Council says

Shoppers in Exeter will be encouraged to think about adoption by social workers on Saturday.

Torbay Council has a number of children it needs to place outside the area and is sending adoption teams to Exeter to canvass shoppers in the city centre.

Families are needed for older children, brothers and sisters, children with disabilities and children from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The council said it wanted to dispel "myths" about who can adopt.

Prospective adopters may or may not have children of their own, the council said.

They can be any age, any ethnic origin, single, married, divorced, cohabiting, in a long term heterosexual or same-sex relationship or civil partnership.

"Some people think about adoption, but never look into it further - possibly because they don't think they will be seriously considered," Councillor Anna Tolchard said.

"They may also find the prospect of going through the adoption process daunting.

"In reality, we are looking for all sorts of people to provide loving, stable, safe and permanent homes for children throughout their lives."