Winners
#E Project – Adoption UK in Scotland
The #E Project uniquely serves children and young people from adoptive, kinship, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) families across Scotland, reaching 128 participants aged 2-to-28.
Its innovative approach focuses on developmental stages, not age, ensuring that every activity, both online and in-person, is accessible and tailored to meet the participants’ specific needs. Led by people with personal experience in adoption and FASD, the project offers a genuinely empathetic and understanding environment.
In just under two years, the #E Project has successfully created peer-led groups that have not only produced valuable resources and infographics on key life skills but also launched their own #E Zone Magazine, entirely designed and written by the participants for young people who share their experience.
At the heart of the project is the celebration of the care-experienced identity, challenging the stigma around adoption and the misconception of achieving a ‘happy ending’ once adopted. The project empowers these young people to use their voices powerfully, whether through group discussions, their magazine, or even presentations in parliament, to explore trauma and highlight the barriers they face in life, education, and employment.
The #E Project instills values of engagement, empowerment, education, personal growth, and employability, ensuring participants develop skills that resonate beyond their immediate environment. From initial shyness to achievements in public speaking, education, and employment, the project champions every small victory, creating a supportive community where resilience shines, and lifelong friendships are forged.
One young person spoke of how the #E Project has given them a heightened agency over their sense of identity, saying: “The #E Project has really helped me to come out of my shell. I grew up not really knowing anyone like me and having to reshare my story over and over. Carol is an inspiration to me and shows me how the past does not define your future. That we are not what happened to us but what we choose to become.”
Find out more: https://www.adoptionuk.org/the-e-project
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PromiseAUKScot