Powerful new film shows that 'Any Of Us' can foster

Article date: 26 September 2023

'Any Of Us' premiers today (Tuesday 26 September) at 12pm across St Helens Borough Council's social media channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), and is the sixth film produced by a growing partnership of councils and children's trusts to promote local authority fostering.

The 'Any Of Us' project is the largest public sector fostering film collaboration yet, with over 80 participants from Northumberland to Brighton and Liverpool to Kent, including St Helens Borough.

Councillor Nova Charlton, St Helens Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said:

"If you're a caring person you have the potential to become a foster carer, giving children and young people the chance to thrive and become their best selves. That's what this collaborative film demonstrates, and it will be an indispensable tool for our fostering recruitment team in the vital work they do.

"Councils across the country - every town, borough and city - are united in this shared message, so it makes perfect sense to communicate it together - we need more people to become foster carers, so please consider if you can offer a home to our most vulnerable children and young people."

'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 - 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. Different individuals in very different scenarios, but each in their own way showing the caring instinct that is fundamental to being a foster carer.

The film develops so that it becomes clear that one of these three everyday people will become the foster carer to Chloe. But which one of the three will be the one to make the difference? The main character's stories are all interwoven with Chloe's, as we see her journey into fostering.

The film has been produced by Reel TwentyFive and project managed by CAN Digital/Rachel Brown.

Project Director, Rachel Brown explains the thinking behind 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 wider 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 to take the first step and become the foster carers we need, right across England."

The national launch of 'Any Of Us' is to be held at the Everyman cinema in Birmingham on 26^th September. Watch the film online on the council's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram .

'Any Of Us' is the latest in a series of film collaborations that started in 2017 with 'Giants', which was supported by a small number local authorities in the midlands and has now grown to a national project across England, reflecting the need to recruit more foster carers.