ONE hundred balloons were brought to Bolton today — each one representing a child waiting to be adopted by a loving family.

The helium balloons were brought to Howell Croft Bolton as a new 'super' team was launched to boost the search for 'forever families' for children in need of a home — which for the first time is outstripping the number of registered adopters waiting to be matched with children.

Bolton has the joint highest number of children waiting to be adopted — standing at 20 — within six local authorities which are being brought under the a new regional agency, Adoption Now.

Adoption Now brings together Bolton, Tameside, Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and Blackburn with Darwen councils to share resources and expertise.

The merger of adoption services aims to improve adopter recruitment and support and speed up matching while also reducing costs.

There are currently around 100 children waiting for adoption across the six local authority areas.

Karen Barrick, head of service, Adoption Now, said: "Until recently we’ve had the relative luxury of more people waiting to adopt than children in need of adoption but the balance is shifting as we have more and more children coming into care and waiting for adoption. We want to do everything possible to improve life chances for these vulnerable children and the one of the best ways we can achieve this is matching them with the most suitable adopters as quickly as we can. It makes sense for us to pool our resources to achieve this and I’m excited about the difference we can make with our new regional super team and the positive outcomes we will be able to achieve for our children."

Councillor Ann Cunliffe, Bolton Council's cabinet member for education safeguarding and looked-after children said: "We’re excited to see our team joining with colleagues from other authorities in the region to form part of this new agency that will allow us to work together on providing the best possible support to families at every step of their adoption journey.

"Finding the families for children in our authority who are waiting for adoption remains a priority for us and through Adoption Now we will be better placed to find them the right matches at the right time."

Blackburn with Darwen has 19 children waiting to be adopted, Bury has 14, Oldham has 20, Rochdale has 12 and Tameside has 15.

Nicola Lane, aged 31, from Tameside adopted two brothers, which she said created the 'loving family she had always wished for' — and is supporting the new agency.

She said: "Adoption is a long and daunting journey but I would encourage anyone thinking about it to contact Adoption Now and find out more. You get so much support and training and ultimately it makes dreams come true for everyone involved."

For further information visit www.adoptionnow.org.uk or contact 01204 336096 for an informal chat.