CHILDREN’S minister Josh MacAlister visited the Berkshire-based charity Parents And Children Together (PACT) to hear about its work with adoptive families and children affected by domestic abuse.
Mr MacAlister was also joined by Reading Central MP Matt Rodda and Cllr Liz Terry, Leader of Reading Borough Council.
The visit, which took place during National Adoption Week, provided an opportunity for the charity to highlight the life-changing benefits of adoption as a permanence option for children and to showcase the unique and specialist support offered by voluntary adoption agencies like PACT.
During the visit, the minister met members of the PACT team and adoptive parents who shared personal stories and insights into the challenges they face.
They also discussed how PACT’s comprehensive adoption support services are tailored to meet the evolving needs of families.
The minister also spent time with the team behind Bounce Back 4 Kids (BB4K), PACT’s therapeutically informed programme supporting child and adult victim survivors of domestic abuse.
He heard about upcoming work with Foundations, aimed at evaluating the impact of the BB4K programme and expanding its reach to support more than 500 families across Berkshire and Oxfordshire over the next three years.
Mr MacAlister said: “Adoptive parents make a massive difference to the lives of vulnerable young children and it was great to visit PACT to meet some of them and hear about the incredible impact they can have.
“We are supporting adoptive families, investing over £8 million in Adoption England to improve services across the country, as well as £50 million this financial year for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
“We encourage everyone from all walks of life to consider adopting to be the difference for children–you don’t need to live in a big, expensive house, you just need to give a child the love and support they need.”
PACT chief executive Natausha van Vliet said: “We were delighted to welcome the Minister for Children and Families Josh MacAlister to PACT and to share our life-changing work with children and families.
“The children we support though adoption and BB4K have experienced significant trauma and we are committed to helping families access the support they need to thrive.
The minister heard directly from families about the challenges they are facing, how PACT supports them and suggestions for how the Government can make a difference for them in the future.”
