How to contact us for advice

Find out more

Telephone Handler
Close form

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.

Telephone Handler

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.

Call us Email us

Discuss on our forums

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.

Parents Kinship Carers

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.

Web pages Webchat
Exit
Family Rights Group

Menu

Cover Your Tracks
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Donate

Birth Links

Find more services on Birth Families Map

About this service

We aim to provide support and guidance for birth relatives, before, during and after an adoption order. We have a dedicated team with a wealth of experience that understand the impact adoption may have on birth parents and their families. We can listen to your story and how you are feeling about your child’s adoption. We can explain the often-confusing process of adoption. We can help you write a letter for your child when they are older explaining what happened and how you feel about it. This service is short-term (usually up to six sessions).

This service is available for birth families in

Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, City of Bristol, Gloucestershire

Contact details

Who is the service for?

  • The child’s birth mother (or pregnant mother)
  • The child’s birth father
  • 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
  • Support for contact with an adopted child, including letterbox contact (contact is sometimes described as ‘keeping in touch’ or ‘family time’)
  • Support groups for birth families affected by adoption

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 service can provide support for the following duration: Six sessions

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
People pie chart

Our funding means we can currently only help 4 in 10 people

Your donation will help more families access expert legal advice and support from Family Rights Group.

Donate Now