‘Any of Us’ – a powerful short film to encourage people from all backgrounds to consider becoming a foster carer for their local authority – picked up two prestigious awards this month.
Trafford Council participated in the project and supported it with funding.
The fostering film won the ‘Best Collaboration’ and ‘Best Creative Comms’ categories at the comms2point0 UnAwards, which recognises excellence in public sector communications, at a ceremony held in Birmingham.
Shortlisted in five categories in all, the film project is a collaboration involving more than 80 council fostering teams from across the UK. The message of the fostering film is “any of us can foster a child or young person, if you have the capacity to care”.
The UnAwards judging panel said: “This is exactly the kind of campaign the public sector needs right now. It combined precious resources to secure a better chance of success for everyone who collaborated – boosted by smart targeting and a beautifully shot video. It just goes to show what can be achieved through our industry working together to address common challenges.”
According to national charity The Fostering Network, 7,200 foster carer families are needed across the UK in the next year to make sure all the children who need fostering get appropriate care. The latest data from Ofsted revealed the number of foster carers working for local authorities has fallen by 11% since 2019.
Cllr Karina Carter, Trafford’s Executive Member for Children and Young People said: “Taking part in this project was an excellent opportunity to provide our fostering service with a high-quality film that highlights the fact that anyone who cares has the potential to become a foster carer.
“It makes great business sense to collaborate with other council fostering teams to produce a film that communicates a universal message: We all need more people to step forward and become foster carers.
“We have a wonderful, supportive community of foster carers here in Trafford but we do need more people to join them. If you could offer a home to our most vulnerable children and young people we would love to hear from you.”
Watch Any of Us on YouTube.
Find out more about becoming a foster carer in Trafford.
Posted on Monday 15th January 2024