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Our advice service

We provide advice to parents, grandparents, relatives, friends and kinship carers who are involved with children’s services in England or need their help. We can help you understand processes and options when social workers or courts are making decisions about your child’s welfare.

Our advice service is free, independent and confidential.

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By phone or email

To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.

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Our online advice forums are an anonymous space where parents and kinship carers (also known as family and friends carers) can get legal and practical advice, build a support network and learn from other people’s experiences.

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Advice on our website

Our get help and advice section describes the processes that you and your family are likely to go through, so that you know what to expect. Our webchat service can help you find the information and advice on our website which will help you understand the law and your rights.

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Aspire Adoption

Find more services on Birth Families Map

About this service

We have a specialist adoption and special guardianship support team and operate a daily duty service within office hours. The team manager coordinates services to all of those whose lives have been touched by adoption. This includes birth relatives of those who have been adopted.

This service is available for birth families in

Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Dorset

Contact details

Who is the service for?

  • The child’s birth mother (or pregnant mother)
  • The child’s birth father
  • The child’s brothers and sisters, including half siblings and step siblings
  • The child’s wider family and friends (including grandparents, aunts/uncles)

At what point in the adoption process is support available? When adoption is:

  • Being planned (including during court proceedings)
  • Has taken place

What support is available?

  • General advice and information about adoption
  • Counselling or therapeutic support
  • Support groups for birth families affected by adoption
  • Advice and information about contributing to a child’s life story work or life story book
  • Support for contact with an adopted child, including letterbox contact (contact is sometimes described as ‘keeping in touch’ or ‘family time’)
  • Support for birth family members to access adoption records and information held by children’s services or another adoption agency
  • Information and support about reconnecting with an adult relative who was adopted as a child (some services included in this map may charge a fee for this)

Where is support available?

  • In person, at a flexible location, such as your home
  • In person, at a specific location
  • Online, including virtual meetings or webchat
  • Over the phone

How to access the service?

  • Contact us directly if you want support (this is also known as self-referral)

How much support is available?

  • The amount of support is flexible, based on how much support is needed

Key details about the service

  • One-to-one support is available at this service
  • Additional support for people with disabilities, including learning difficulties and learning disabilities, is available at this service
  • Confidential interpreters or translation services are available at this service

Has the service been independently evaluated, with input from family members who have used the service?

No, not at this point
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