Children's trust helps to produce moving video around fostering

‘Any Of Us’ will be the sixth film produced by a growing partnership of more than 80 local councils and children’s trusts to promote local authority fostering, including Sandwell Children's Trust, Dudley Council, Staffordshire Council, Walsall Council and Wolverhampton Council.

Councillor Simon Hackett, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education for Sandwell Council said: “Sandwell has been part of this project since the very first collaborative film ‘Giants’ in 2017 and the brilliant thing about this partnership is the determination that all the fostering services involved don’t have to settle for second best.

"A lot of people, rightly, praised the John Lewis fostering advert at Christmas time, as poignant and socially responsible and this film, ‘All Of Us’ is right up there alongside it.

"Anyone thinking about fostering can watch it on our new fostering website fostersandwell.co.uk, which is only 3 minutes long, but is a really powerful call to action.”

Alison Hinds, Wolverhampton Council's Director of Children’s Services, said: "This project is about sharing everyday experiences of what it takes to be an amazing foster parent and councils coming together to produce a film that communicates a universal message: We all need more people to step forward and become foster parents.

"This film highlights the fact that anyone who cares has the potential to become a foster parent.

"Our Fostering for Wolverhampton service welcomes foster parents from a wide range of backgrounds, professions and ethnic groups.

"Foster parents must live within a 20-mile radius of Wolverhampton, have a spare bedroom, and have room in their heart to look after our most vulnerable children and young people.

"We encourage everyone to watch the film and if you are compelled to show the young people of our city you care, then we would love to hear from you.

"For more information about our upcoming Roving Recruitment Roadshow, taking place next week, or any of our other Fostering for Wolverhampton events, please visit fosteringforwolverhampton.com/events.

"Join us to find out more about the specialist support, training and allowances you will receive as a foster parent, as well as our ‘buddy system’ which provides support from experienced foster parents to help newcomers along their fostering journey."

The national launch for ‘All Of Us’ will be at the Everyman cinema in Birmingham on Tuesday, September 26 when the film will be premiered before launching around the country.

‘Any Of Us’ looks at three very different people who all show some of the attributes needed to be a foster carer in incidents from their daily lives.

This includes Ayesha going to the aid of a pedestrian after a minor road accident, Neil calming down an aggressive situation in a snooker club, and Marsha identifying a young person showing signs of distress and intervening with them at school.

‘Any Of Us’ is the latest in a series of film collaborations that started in 2017 with ‘Giants’ supported by 12 local authorities in the Midlands and has now grown to a nationwide project across England, reflecting the national need to recruit more foster carers.