# John Timpson pledges £1 million to parent training programme

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/04/19/john-timpson-pledges-1m-parent-training-programme/
- Published: 2011-04-19T07:05:08+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

![](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/files/images/news/john_timpson_0.jpg)

Businessman John Timpson CBE has pledged £1 million to help After Adoption expand
its SafeBase parent training programme to families across the UK, to help reduce
adoption break-downs.

Every year one in five adoptions fails, often because of attachment difficulties
between the parents and child, and combined with falling adoption rates in the UK(
only 2,300 children were adopted last year) an increasing number of children are
growing up in the care of local authorities.

After Adoption’s SafeBase programme, however, is helping to counter these trends
in regions including Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Wales, with 
over 120 families and over 200 children helped to build long-lasting attachments.

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The £1million funding now ensures the successful techniques of SafeBase will be 
extended nationwide by 2016, allowing After Adoption to partner with more local 
authorities and help hundreds of families stay together.

Mr Timpson, who with his wife Alex has adopted two children and been a foster carer
to over 90, says: “Over the years we have cared for many children. It hasn’t always
been easy, but you learn from experience and one thing I do understand now is the
importance of attachment and the incredible difference getting the right support
can make”.

The four-day SafeBase course teaches adoptive parents skills and techniques to help
build the relationship with their adoptive children and uses established Theraplay
® techniques to create healthy attachments.

www.afteradoption.org.uk

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