Adoption in the Thames Valley

If you live in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, or anywhere across the wider Thames Valley, Jigsaw is the local voluntary adoption agency. We're physically here — not running things from somewhere else. Most of our adopters can drive to our office in under an hour, and many of our team know the schools, GPs, and post-adoption services across the region first hand.

Where Jigsaw families live across the Thames Valley

Approximate distribution of Jigsaw families across London and the Thames Valley.

Our adopters are spread across Berkshire (Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, and West Berkshire), Oxfordshire (Oxford, Banbury, Bicester, Witney, Thame, and Henley), Buckinghamshire (High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, and the surrounding villages), and Swindon and the surrounds. We work with all the local authorities in these areas and we've placed children with families across the region for over a decade.

Meeting us in person

Our Oxfordshire office is at 13 Upper High Street, Thame OX9 3ER — ten minutes from Junction 6 of the M40, with parking nearby. Most of our Thames Valley adopters travel less than an hour to anything we run in person.

The two-day preparation course (Stage 1) is normally delivered at a location in Bucks, depending on the cohort. Stage 2 home visits happen at your home — we come to you. The adoption panel normally meets in Bucks, but remember that adopters only attend it once.

For most adopters, we start with a video call before visiting, so location doesn't matter. Initial conversations are usually a 30-minute video call.

Read Greta and Johan's full story.

Voluntary agency or local authority?

In the Thames Valley, the local authority adoption service is run by Adopt Thames Valley — a partnership of seven councils including Oxfordshire, Reading, and Buckinghamshire. They might be right starting point for many adopters. Jigsaw is the alternative: a voluntary agency with a smaller team, our own assessment process, and adopters from across Greater London and the Thames Valley rather than only locally.

There are no fees with Jigsaw. We are probably a bit faster than the local authority but it still takes time to adopt — the statutory timetable is the same — but the experience is different. We are always on hand if you have questions or if you need help.

If you're early in your thinking, our adoption process page explains the journey from initial enquiry through to adoption order in detail.