Any Of Us can foster a child or young person, if they have a big heart to care. That is the powerful message from a brand-new fostering film which North Lincolnshire Council are proud to be a part of. It is hoped it will challenge misconceptions about fostering and break down barriers enabling any person who wishes to become a foster carer to be able to do so.
The ‘Any Of Us’ project will launch today and is the largest public sector fostering film collaboration yet, with over 80 participants from Northumberland to Brighton and Liverpool to Kent.
Cllr Julie Reed, cabinet member for children, families and communities, said: “In North Lincolnshire we value our children and work hard to support them to enable them to be the best that they can be, especially those children who need our care and protection, this is where excellent, high quality foster care is essential. We are extremely proud of the outstanding care, love and service our foster carers provide in North Lincolnshire and this film highlights this most important work.
“Any Of Us is a real and meaningful phrase when associated with fostering, anyone of us could make a real difference to a child or young person’s life and sadly any child could end up needing our help and protection.
“For us as a local authority, we strive to support our foster carers who enable children to live in a safe and loving home rather than in an institution. We firmly believe all our children are best served in their homes, families, schools, and communities and often children can return to their family home with our help and support. Foster carers play a vital role in supporting our children during this time or when necessary, helping them to settle into their forever home in the case of adoption. Foster carers are real champions for our children and quite rightly highly valued by myself and our Fostering Teams.”
‘Any Of Us’ tells the story of Chloe who is looking for a foster family and three very different people who all show fundamental attributes of a foster carer in incidents from their daily lives.
Ayesha provides aid to a pedestrian after a minor road accident, Neil calmly manages an aggressive situation, and Marsha supports a young person showing signs of distress at school.
Which one will make the difference to Chloe’s life and future?
The film has been produced by Reel TwentyFive and project managed by CAN Digital/Rachel Brown.
Project Director, Rachel Brown explains the premise of the film: “Whilst there is always a core message about the difference fostering makes within our films, ‘Any Of Us’ has been more ambitious in telling three different stories from diverse foster carers, based around them sharing their experiences with people considering fostering.
“We hope that this will mean that the film and its messaging will appeal to as wide an audience as possible and encourage people to foster for their local authority.
“Fostering directly with your council or children’s trust means that you can support your local community by working a with a fostering service that is dedicated to supporting local children and young people who need a nurturing, safe fostering home.”
Sarah Thomas, chief executive of The Fostering Network, says: “The Fostering Network has supported this project since the first collaborative film ‘Giants’ in 2017. It’s fantastic to see the fostering services work together to amplify their message to recruit much-needed foster carers. There’s currently a shortage of 6,000 fostering households in England, so films like this have a vital role to play in encouraging more people to become foster carers.
“A lot of people – rightly – praised the John Lewis fostering advert at Christmas time, as poignant and socially responsible. ‘All Of Us’ is right up there alongside it. Now it’s our job to have it seen as widely as possible, so more people take the first step and become the foster carers we need, right across England.”
Watch the North Lincolnshire Council version of the film on YouTube.
To find out more about fostering in North Lincolnshire, visit the website, email fostering@northlincs.gov.uk or call 01724 297024.
