On 21 January, to mark Big Adoption Day 2026, charitable social enterprise and leisure operator GLL, along with the UK’s first children’s charity Coram, announced a new partnership offering free three-month memberships to Better leisure centres for adoptive families in the North East.
The initiative gives adoptive families free access to Better leisure centres across the region, including use of gyms, swimming pools, fitness classes and sports facilities. The offer also covers soft play areas, trampolines, play parks, and access to the Better UK app.
The free memberships are open to adoptive families across England and Wales, who adopted through Coram or another voluntary adoption agency within the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA).
A report by Coram and Stormbreak published last year by the Local Government Association warned that care-experienced children and young people are a ‘hidden group’ whose needs and experiences are often overlooked in physical activity policy and provision. It highlighted the importance of prioritising movement in the lives of young people with care experience to support physical and mental wellbeing and called for care-experienced children and young people to have better access to physical activity.
Alison Westworth, GLL’s Partnership Manager in Newcastle said:
“We are delighted to be supporting this initiative in the region that raises awareness and facilitates adoptions. We know the huge mental and physical benefits that access to sports, fitness and wellbeing activities can have on all sections of society. When we became aware of the research undertaken by Coram showing that care-experienced children often miss out, we wanted to help, both by promoting Big Adoption Day and providing free access to our leisure facilities to adoptive families.”
Today for Big Adoption Day, an annual campaign led by the CVAA and Coram, adoption agencies across the UK are hosting in-person and online events in their local areas, and celebrating the real-life stories of families who have adopted, to encourage anyone interested in exploring adoption to find out more.
There are currently 3,000 children waiting to be adopted across England, of which half have been waiting more than 18 months since entering care (1,500). There is an urgent need for more prospective adoptive parents to come forward to provide permanent, loving homes for these children.
Dame Carol Homden, CEO of Coram, said:
“We are delighted to collaborate with GLL this Big Adoption Day and to highlight this wonderful offer for adoptive families across the country. We know this will make a huge difference for families, enabling them to enjoy activities together and helping to boost their physical and mental wellbeing.”
The charity’s research underlines the huge benefits that physical activity has on care experienced children and as the UK’s largest public leisure operator and a charitable social enterprise it is important to help improve access to sports and leisure facilities.
