Dog Walk - Scottish Adoption and Fostering

What a week it has been! We have had an amazing first ever Scottish Adoption Festival so thank you to everyone who has made this week more of a success then we had hoped it would be!

Monday 27th May 2019

For everyone here at Scottish Adoption the purpose behind the Scottish Adoption Festival was to have some fun family events which provided opportunities for adoptive families to come together and celebrate adoption. Events, such as a Bookbug story telling session, a Parkour workshop and a music writing masterclass with Singer/Songwriter Nikki McDonald and ending the week with our Annual Family Fun Day at the Five Sisters Zoo. These sessions were open to families from all adoption agencies and local authorities giving them a chance to meet other families that they would not necessarily get the chance to meet at agency only events. The Scottish Adoption Teenager Groups also wanted to use the week to do some fundraising and so they organised a very successful Duck Race, selling more ducks than ever before! A huge well done to them!

We also recognised that as Scotland continues to have a shortage of adopters, like LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week in March and Adoption Week Scotland in November we would also provide recruitment opportunities to help raise awareness and encourage potential adopters to come and talk with us to learn more about the adoption process. We held two of these events and were really humbled by the number of people who came along to hear from us and our adopters and it is great that some have already decided that they want to start their adoption journey with us.

We are already looing forward to next year’s Scottish Adoption Festival which will be even bigger so come and get involved and let us know what groups you want to see next year!

Second Adoption Information Dog Wallk hailed a huge success.

Monday 26th March 2018

After the snow made us postpone our Adoption Information Dog Walk as part of LGBT Adoption week, we had rescheduled and on a beautiful, sunny and clear Sunday morning we finally met up at Beecraig’s Country Park. These dog walks are organised for prospective adopters who are interested in finding out more about the adoption process from our experienced adopters all while walking their dogs and with more adoptive families, prospective adopters and dogs turning up than in previous dog walks, the morning was off to a great start!

After introductions were made and bags of doggy treats handed out, lovingly baked by the Bad Tempered Baker, we headed off down the hill from the visitor centre and headed into the woods where the dogs were free to be let off their leads. Sticks and balls were thrown and muddy puddles were found where most dogs enjoyed a roll about in the mud much to the annoyance of some dog owners. Once we were back at the visitor centre everyone was able to chat and share stories about their adoption journey while we got warmed up with cups of tea and coffee and tasty bacon rolls provided by Paul and his helpful team.

One attendee mentioned to us that this dog walk ticked lots of boxes for them, as an LGBT prospective adopter who owns two dogs, that they couldn’t not come along and meet everyone. This was great to hear and made us more committed to continue to be the innovative and creative Adoption Agency that we are.