Successor adoption group to mark first year with launch
A Scottish adoption charity formed folllowing the collapse of a GB organisation last year will mark its first year with a celebratory launch next week.
The Faculty of Advocates will host the first anniversary event of the Adoption and Fostering Alliance Scotland (AFA Scotland), in the Faculty’s Mackenzie Building on Thursday, 15 September, when the guests will include the Minister for Childcare and Early Years, Mark McDonald MSP.
AFA Scotland was formed after the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF), renowned for promoting good practice in adoption and fostering, went into administration in the summer of 2015 due to financial pressures. Former staff of the BAAF in Scotland were determined not to lose the expertise which had been built up, and with Scottish Government help the new charity was born.
Janys Scott QC, chair of the Advocates' Family Law Association and chair of the board of trustees of AFA Scotland, said the event would hear about the history of AFA Scotland, its current developments and future plans.
“AFA Scotland is a vital part of provision for the most needy children and families in Scotland", she commented. "The staff of AFA Scotland are to be congratulated for their determination to maintain their services to adoption and fostering when their former employer BAAF went into administration.”
She added: “One of the most important aspects of their work has been to make sure that social workers, lawyers and health professionals work together in sustaining the quality of care for children. It would have been a disaster to lose this service. It is a triumph for children and families that it has been preserved and relaunched as AFA Scotland.”