An adoption service is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The Vale, Valleys, and Cardiff Adoption Collaborative (VVC) is marking a decade of bringing families together during National Adoption Week, which runs from October 21 to 27.

The service is part of the National Adoption Service for Wales, established in 2014 to improve services for those affected by adoption in Wales.

The Wales-wide service has placed 3,000 children for adoption with 2,300 families, supporting adopters and adopted young people through the process and beyond.

To celebrate the milestone, the VVC is hosting a creative workshop and community event for its adoption community.

It is hoped that by sharing local adoption stories and challenging misconceptions, more people across South Wales will consider adoption.

Teacher, spoken word artist, and Welsh poet of the year 2021, Faith Buckley, 39, who adopted a sibling group with her partner Stu, will run the creative workshop to help families creatively showcase their journey.

She said: "Spoken word has always been the way I processed emotions.

"For a long time, my history with spoken word has been with loss and grief.

"When we were adopting, the thing that I came renowned for wasn’t there anymore.

"I started writing about the children and when they saw me perform for the first time, they were beaming; it was just such a special moment."

Greg Lewis, team manager at Vale, Valleys and Cardiff Adoption Collaborative, said: "We’re incredibly proud of the strong adoption community we have built here over the last 10 years, with adopters being supported by our service as they extend their families.

"We are here to answer any questions and urge people who are considering adoption to visit our website or pick up the phone and talk things through with us.

"We’re here to guide you every step of the way."

For more information, visit the VVC website.