Our 2025 annual conference will be taking place in person and online on Wednesday 8 October 2025. This year’s focus is on the transition to adulthood.
We will be looking at the range of issues facing adopted young people and their families as they move towards and into early adulthood: what are the challenges you may face, what can help with these, what services are already available, and what are the gaps that we need to look at addressing.
We hope the conference will have something useful for all adopters, whatever the stage in their adoption journey, and also for us in learning from your experiences. We will also be inviting professionals from across our Local Authorities and partner agencies.
Outline of the day
The morning session will be from 10am to 12.30pm and focus on transitions into adulthood, with speakers including:
- Alistair Mackintosh, who is an adoptive parent and served for many years as a chair for Adopt South West’s Adoption Panel
- Dr Cara Redmond, consultant clinical psychologist with Psychology Associates
- a representative of Devon County Council’s Adult Social Care service.
The afternoon session will be from 1pm to 3pm and focus on keeping in touch with birth family and accessing records, with Dr Julia Feast OBE. Julia is a social worker, trainer and researcher whose work has focussed on the identity and information needs of adopted adults.
We are also hoping to have an adopted adult at each session.
How to attend
Following feedback from last’s year’s virtual conference, we are running this year’s conference as a hybrid conference to give as many people as possible the option to attend in person or virtually.
If you wish to attend in person, the venue is the Future Skills Centre in Exeter (address: Exeter College Future Skills Centre, Exeter Airport Industrial Estate, Exeter, EX5 2LJ). The venue has free car parking or there is a bus service which runs from Exeter St Davids train station (Stagecoach service 4A).
How to book
You can book for the morning and/or afternoon sessions, and places are free whether you attend in person or virtually.
Click here to book, or if you have any questions about the conference, please email claire.trivett@devon.gov.uk