Life after care is tough. We make it easier.

We make sure care-experienced people aren’t left to figure it out alone.

No one understands the care system like those who’ve lived it. We’re the only UK organisation built by care-experienced people—for care-experienced people.

At Susan Vickers, we're all care experienced. This means we've lived through the challenges we help others overcome. We use our personal journeys and professional training to provide services that truly understand your needs, offering real support and positive change.

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Anonymous

Adoptors who attend the coffee mornings, The group was recommended to us by someone we attended training with. We went along to our first coffee morning while we were still in the fostering stage of our foster-to-adopt journey. It was the first place where we both truly felt seen and heard. I remember getting back into the car afterwards and immediately knowing we had found something invaluable. Since then, we have attended whenever possible. We have listened to others share their experiences, which helped us realise we were not alone in what we were feeling. We shared our own experiences too, and people simply got it. There was no need to explain or justify our feelings there was an understanding that only comes from lived experience. On the surface, it is a simple activity: a group of people coming together over a coffee. But it has the power to become one of the most important sources of support, and that has certainly been our experience. In particular, we found the transition from foster carers to prospective adopters incredibly difficult. While it represented progress in our journey, it was also the stage where we felt most disconnected. It was a challenging period that we had to work through individually, as a couple, and as a family of three. Looking back, I am not sure either of us would be who we are today without this group. It gave us exactly what we needed, often before we even realised we needed it. It provided understanding, reassurance, and connection at a time when we needed those things most. For that, we will always be grateful. 5 stars

Samantha Houghton

My review: 5.0 out of 5 stars. This book grabs you by the heartstrings The most beautiful and touching depiction of life as an adoptee. It touches on every angle - but is mostly from the viewpoint of being adopted and how that impacted every area of the girl's life and continues to do so. It will sometimes break your heart, but you'll laugh at other sections and cheer on the author at others. I'd recommend this book to anyone who has been adopted, to people who have already adopted or are considering and to the services that facilitate adoption. It's eye-opening insight for all readers, and you'll feel every word.

1 Oct 2023

Richard Boundry

Love Susan is an interesting, emotional and insightful look into what life was like growing up being adopted and the heartfelt searching Susan undertook to find her biological parents. A very gripping and absorbing read that made me reflect on my own relationship with my own family. I couldn't put it down.

1 Oct 2023

Ian Henery

I first met Susan Vickers in 2021 at the Willenhall Lock Stock Festival. I knew of her before I met her and I was in awe of her reputation. She has a photo of her and Billy Idol on her social media profile which probably tells you all you need to know about Susan Vickers. She is an amazing lady and I was aware that she had been a broadcaster in New York before taking up residency at the Radio Station.

I also knew of her as a former model and community entrepreneur who had compered the Judgestock Festival only 24 hours before Lock Stock in Wednesbury. Susan was running on adrenalin and I was - and still am - in awe of this human dynamo. I had only put my name forward to perform some poetry at Lock Stock (there was an audience of 3,000 people) but was invited by the organisers to compere with Susan the Pop & Soul Stage. I had enormous trepidation. Susan didn`t need any help and she is the Real Deal - a professional performer, compere and broadcaster and I honestly felt that she didn`t need a poetry sidekick. However, she welcomed me and we discovered a natural rapport. To be asked to write this foreword on her behalf and to be shown the chapters of the book as they were written by Susan is a massive compliment. Thank you, Susan.

What has been revealing since Lock Stock is the other side of Susan which she has revealed in the writing of this book. She has shown enormous candour and bravery in opening up her soul and heart to show us who she really is and to encourage us to embrace ourselves with honesty. In leading by example Susan is asking us to share with our loved ones who we really are and our secret identity. In removing our defensive walls we allow our loved ones to love us more completely.

What I first perceived of Susan Vickers was the public face of a professional broadcaster and not the person behind the mask. Listening to her daily broadcasts on the radio has shown me that she very much wants to help people and empower both her listeners on her radio show and the readers of her book. Susan Vickers is a power of positivity and we need that right now in a world that has been savaged by COVID 19, global climate change . Our generation is tackling existential anguish like none other before it. We need a writer like Susan Vickers to lead the way by example. Let`s lay down our masks and weaponary and open our hearts and embrace the world with honesty. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Susan tackles tackles numerous topics in this book and each time shows us what it means to be a survivor and vanguish personal demons and setbacks to spread love and compassion for all. Susan`s story makes us look into our own hearts and see ourselves for who we really are and to make peace with our past.

This is a book that needs to be read and then read again. Susan knows her stuff and writes from personal experience. Her mission has always been to leave her legacy and to help those who are going through similar personal crises. If she can just help one person then I know she would believe it would have been all worth it. I totally recommend this.

Ian Henery, solicitor, poet & playwright

13 Apr 2022

Samantha Houghton

It wasn't so long ago that Susan Vickers could not bring herself to even speak about her story without immense fear taking over as she had hidden her truth for all of her life with very good reason.Her very moving book will reveal her emotional journey of why someone would go to such lengths to hide their very identity from the world and exactly what it means to have to fight every single day just to be accepted in society.Susan shares the harrowing lived experience of toxic racism in the UK all while searching for her family and a feeling of belonging.The book had me in tears in places, amused in parts where Susan’s wicked sense of humour shines through and cheering ferociously at her tenacity and remarkable courage.Susan has bared her soul in order to find her peace, leave her legacy behind and reach out to all of the other people in this world who are walking a similar path each day. Her courage will inspire you and her inspirational story will give much food for thought in how we view and treat others.❤

13 Apr 2022

Adrian Morris

This book tells the story of a lifelong search for identity and acceptance against the backdrop of racism in this country. It is a story of extremes. It contains both anger and love, hate and compassion. If you want to understand what it is to be excluded from society on a daily basis, to have to search for your true identity, then read this book now, you won't be disappointed.

13 Apr 2022

Our Unique Approach: Built on Lived Experience

What sets us apart? We're a team where 100% of us have lived experience of the care system. This isn't just theory for us; it's our reality. We bring an authentic understanding, genuine empathy, and practical insights that can only come from personal journeys. We bridge the gap between professional services and ...

Why Choose Us? Real Support, Real Change.

Choosing us means choosing a team with specialised expertise in care experience challenges. We offer a trauma-informed approach in all our services, creating a supportive community environment where you can connect with qualified counsellors, therapists, and peers. We focus on practical, real-world solutions, ...

Who is Susan Vickers?

I’m Susan Vickers — a woman shaped by the care system, and strengthened by the journey beyond it. I grew up carrying questions without answers, emotions without language, and a story that didn’t always feel like it belonged to me. But I also carried resilience. And fire. And a quiet belief that life could be different.

Today, I stand here as an advocate, a trainer, a therapist, and a writer — but more importantly, as someone who has lived the realities we so often speak about from a distance.

My work is rooted in lived experience and guided by compassion. I help caregivers understand the behaviours that come from early trauma. I support professionals who carry the emotional weight of others. I walk alongside care‑experienced people as they search for identity, belonging, and truth. And through my books, I give voice to the stories many of us were never allowed to tell.

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