ALL they want is someone to love them.

But for the children of Hampshire desperately seeking a loving family the credit crunch is forcing many potential parents to say no to adoption.

As National Adoption Week begins today, charities are warning that many homes cannot afford to feed another mouth at the dinner table.

Winchester-based adoption charity, the Catholic Children’s Society, has seen applications to adopt plummet by half and fear things will only get worse.

There are around 4,000 children across the country looking for a new mum and dad, with 60 children adopted in Hampshire every year and 24 in Southampton, which has ten children currently seeking families including two babies of African heritage.

On behalf of those children, many of whom have faced abuse or suffered neglect, adoption agencies are sending out a heartfelt plea to encourage potential adopters and reassure them that help is out there.

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In the past ten months the Catholic Children’s Society has received only 52 initial inquiries about adoption, compared to 89 in the same period last year.

Di Emery, team manager of the agency, blamed money worries for the sharp drop, as more and more people are having to stick to the bare necessities.

She said: “In the current economic climate people are pulling their belts in, they are thinking about everything they spend.

“Many of the children who are in urgent need of a permanent home family are groups of brothers and sisters. This naturally meant that the prospective adopters feel apprehensive about how they would manage financially.”

Although council figures for prospective parents remain steady, there are signs that the credit crunch is having an effect on parents who have already adopted.

Pauline Pearce, adoption services manager from Southampton City Council, said: “Although we are not struggling with the numbers of people making initial inquiries, we are beginning to see evidence of families struggling financially.

“We are getting some families who didn’t require the means tested allowance, coming back to us to apply for the grants due to job losses and particularly with those who are self-employed.

“There may come a time that we start to feel the full effects of the credit crunch so we are always looking for potential adopters to come forward.”

Mrs Emery wants to ease fears about the cost of adopting, stressing that both financial and emotional help is available.

She added: “We want to highlight the fact that there are possible allowances, depending on circumstances, available to families, particularly those taking sibling groups or children with special needs.

“There are a lot of children out there who have been abused or neglected who really need a permanent family.

“We’re not looking for stereotypical people, if they feel they have got something to offer we’d like them to come forward.”

Parents who are accepted as adopters can claim travel expenses for their initial meetings with children and a settling-in grant.

There are then means tested allowances.

  • Ring Hampshire County Council on 0845 603 5620, Southampton City Council on 023 8091 5700 or the Catholic Children’s Society on 01962 842024 for more information about adoption.