Norfolk County Council fostering film collaboration

More than 80 local authorities and children's trusts across England, including Norfolk County Council, have collaborated on the production of a short film to encourage people to consider fostering for their local authority. The film's powerful message is that any of us can foster a child or young person, if you have the capacity to care.

'Any Of Us' will be launched on Tuesday 26 September. It is the sixth film produced by a growing partnership of councils and children's trusts to promote local authority fostering. It is the largest collaboration between public sector fostering bodies yet, with over 80 participants from Northumberland to Norwich and from Liverpool to Kent.

Penny Carpenter, Norfolk County Council Cabinet Member for Children's Services said: "Foster carers are essential to so many of the services we provide for families in Norfolk. Every local authority needs more people to step forward and become foster carers, whether they can spare one weekend a month or more time to care for children and young people.

Pooling resources with other local authorities who face similar challenges makes huge sense, from producing films which communicate a universal message, to sharing best practice and ways to meet the challenges that we face. As shown in this film, the message is the same, from London to the Lake District: any of us could offer a home to vulnerable children and young people. It's all about giving local children a chance to flourish."

Fostering directly with Norfolk County Council means that you work with a local fostering service dedicated to supporting local children and young people who need a safe, nurturing home.

Sarah Thomas, chief executive of the Fostering Network said: "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 last Christmas, as being 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 to take the first step and become the foster carers we need, right across England."

The national launch of 'Any Of Us' will be held at the Everyman cinema in Birmingham on Tuesday 26 September and attended by fostering professionals from across England. The film will also be shown to members of Norfolk County Council during Tuesday's full council meeting, be made available online at the Norfolk County Council fostering webpages, will become part of a promotional campaign to recruit more foster carers in Norfolk.