PAC-UK National Adoption Week 2025 Events
PAC-UK delivered a series of free to attend online and in-person events during National Adoption Week 2025, which took place from Monday 20th to Sunday 26th October. Our online events were recorded and uploaded to our PAC-UK YouTube channel for those who were unable to attend live - these recordings are also listed on this page below.
We were thrilled that 350+ people (including adopted people, birth parents, adoptive parents/carers and professionals) attended our three live and two in-person events this year and thank everyone who attended, contributed to chat/in-person discussion and provided feedback.
We’d also like to extend enormous thanks and gratitude to our guest speakers who contributed this year for all their dedication, hard work and preparation that went in to delivering the sessions this year!
Trigger warning: During our events, facilitators and speakers share their personal views and experiences which can be difficult, emotional and triggering. Our PAC-UK Advice Line is available if needed.
Celebrating 10 years of Adopteens - A decade of connection and peer support (Monday 20 October 2025)
40 attendees joined us live to mark 10 incredible years of our Adopteens service - a decade of connection, peer support and amplifying the voices of adopted young people. We explored the importance of youth-led services in shaping meaningful change and why listening to young voices matters now more than ever. We also shared shared key insights from our 10-year Adopteens Impact Report; showcased powerful moments and milestones; premiered exclusive new footage from our recent anniversary celebration; highlighted what’s important to our Adopteens members - and their hopes for the future.
Adopteens is such an important service... and as Nat who is an Adopteens member said, it has taken time to get to where they are at today. This is a service that should be cherished and act as a springboard for developing regional Adopteens services across the UK.
- Event attendee via SurveyMonkey
Adoption and identity roundtable - Exploring family, identity and belonging (Tuesday 21 October 2025)
110 attendees joined us live for a discussion on family and identity, with a roundtable that included adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents. Together, we reflected on questions including; How do adopted people reconcile their birth and adoptive lives/identities?, What is the experience like for those who are transracially adopted?, Can navigating this duality become a source of strength?, How do adoptive and birth parents make sense of their family? Chaired by Mike Hancock - PAC-UK National Strategic Lead - this roundtable features voices with lived experience from different perspectives. Expect honest conversation with personal views, shared insights and space to think about the complexities of identity in adoption.
The impact on identity in transracial adoption was expressed very well and painted a really clear picture. Highlighting that its not always positive and that sometimes birth family don't want any contact was also good to note.
- Event attendee via SurveyMonkey
Adoption, trauma and the body - Exploring the connection (Wednesday 22 October 2025)
120 attendees joined us live for a session offering gentle and supportive insights into understanding your body’s signals - and how to work with them to foster safety, regulation, and wellbeing in daily life. In this session, adoptee and counsellor Gilli Bruce explored how adoption and early trauma can impact the body - particularly how trauma memories may be stored physically and how the Limbic System and Autonomic Nervous System shape our emotional and physical responses. We looked at; How the body holds trauma, What happens when the nervous system becomes dysregulated, How to build self-awareness of the body’s responses, Practical ways to support the body in returning to a calmer, more balanced state.
Would love to hear more on this topic and more of what Gilli has to say. She is obviously very experienced, articulate and knowledgeable. I would have happily listened for longer and learned more.
- Event attendee via SurveyMonkey
We will be adding further information shortly following our in-person events in Manchester (birth parent conference - 24 October) and Leeds (adopted people meet-up - 25 October).
