Our 2025 annual conference will be taking place in person and online on Wednesday 8 October 2025. This year’s focus is on the transition to adulthood and access to records.
We will be looking at the range of issues facing adopted young people and their families as they move towards and into early adulthood: what are the challenges you may face, what can help with these, what services are already available, and what are the gaps that we need to look at addressing.
We hope the conference will have something useful for all adopters, whatever the stage in their adoption journey, and professionals working in adoption. We also hope to use the day to help our learning and development in this area.
Outline of the day
The morning session will be from 10am to 12.30pm and focus on the range of issues facing families during the transition into adulthood, with speakers including:
- Alistair Macintosh, who is an adoptive parent and served for many years as a chair for Adopt South West’s Adoption Panel
- Dr Cara Redmond, consultant clinical psychologist with Psychology Associates
- a representative of Devon County Council’s Adult Social Care service.
The afternoon session will be from 1pm to 3pm and focus on accessing adoption records and making contact with birth relatives, with Dr Julia Feast OBE. Julia is a social worker, trainer and researcher whose work has focussed on the identity and information needs of adopted adults.
The full agenda will be circulated nearer to the time.
How to attend
Following feedback from last’s year’s virtual conference, we are running this year’s conference as a hybrid conference to give as many people as possible the option to attend in person or virtually.
If you wish to attend in person, the venue is the Future Skills Centre in Exeter (address: Exeter College Future Skills Centre, Exeter Airport Industrial Estate, Exeter, EX5 2LJ). The venue has free car parking or there is a bus service which runs from Exeter St Davids train station (Stagecoach service 4A).
How to book
You can book for the morning and/or afternoon sessions, and places are free whether you attend in person or virtually. Tickets can be booked by Adoptive Families who live in the Adopt South West Area (Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, Plymouth, Somerset, Torbay) and by professionals who work with children and families.
If you are attending for the whole day, please bring some lunch, or you can use the on-site cafe. We will be providing drinks and cakes.
We look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible.
