Foster Carers -Your country needs you!
Foster Carers -Your country needs you!
As the Managing Director of F5 Foster Care, an independent foster care agency based in the West Midlands, I am writing to highlight the urgent need for foster carers in the UK. The current shortage of approximately 6,000 foster carers is a dire situation that has been made worse by the recent turbulence and uncertainity in the UK, leaving many children without a loving and stable home.
As caring citizens and business professionals, it is all our responsibility to attract foster carers who can provide the guidance, love, and support that children in foster care need. Not only does fostering save local governments approximately £25,000 per child, but it also leads to better outcomes in education, physical and mental wellbeing for the children in foster care.
Over the years, we have seen Independent Foster Care Agencies as we well as Local Authority campaigns to attract foster carers become more sophisticated through audience segmentation and targeted digital marketing tools. We have found that women in the 40–55 age group are a key target audience, many of whom are “pioneers” in many aspects of their lives, making them more likely to be community-minded and socially conscious.
To increase the effectiveness of these type of campaigns, it has been commented that authenticity and myth-busting through storytelling are usally what works better. It is important to be honest about the realities of fostering and not to portray it as a fairy-tale with a happy ending for every placement. This way, potential foster carers will be better prepared and understand exactly what is involved.
In light of this, F5 Foster Care team have launched a new foster carer recruitment campaign to reach more people with these key messages. Teh aim is to provide more evidence and information led messages/stories/statistics that can efficiently be delivered on the ground and provide a personal case and message that will be of interest to potential foster carers.
In concluding, the need for foster carers has never been greater and it is our duty to attract individuals who can provide the love and support that children in foster care need. I hope that our campaign can make a positive impact in this regard and encourage more people to consider fostering as a viable option.
