Greater Manchester residents urged to consider fostering as part of new campaign
There is a real need for more Greater Manchester residents to come forward and foster for their local council.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is working alongside all 10 Greater Manchester councils on a variety of projects designed to boost fostering capacity in the region and raise the profile of foster carers' vital role in helping local children and young people to thrive.
One key project is ‘Fostering Unfiltered’ which is a bold, new campaign with an ambition to inspire more people in Greater Manchester, from all walks of life, to become foster carers.
Fostering Unfiltered embraces the realities of fostering with refreshing honesty to show the ins and outs of foster care. It reflects the real lives of existing foster carers by sharing their everyday experiences and challenges.
It turns the spotlight on the real-life experiences of Greater Manchester’s community of nearly 1,500 foster carers to help local people explore fostering and decide whether it’s right for them.
Councillor Mark Hunter, Leader of Stockport Council and Greater Manchester’s lead for children and young people, said: “I cannot overstate the importance of foster carers on the lives of local children, the reality is we need more people to foster so that we can give the best opportunities to children and young people in Greater Manchester. To see so many of our current carers come forward to tell their story as part of the campaign shows the dedicated and passionate community you’d be joining.”
By working with all 10 local councils GMCA wants to make Greater Manchester the friendliest region for foster carers; a place where residents respect foster carers and are inspired by their collective endeavour.
Bernie Brown, Director of Children’s Services at Bolton Council and Greater Manchester lead for fostering, said: “We’re really proud of this campaign, we’ve spent time researching fostering and finding out more about people’s motivations and the barriers the system can often present to people enquiring, this is a clear demonstration of Greater Manchester doing things differently.
“By giving people greater knowledge and awareness, the campaign will demystify fostering to make the role more accessible and inspire a new generation of foster carers. We want others to join our growing community dedicated to providing safe and loving homes for children and young people across Greater Manchester.”
As well as real foster carer stories forming part of the website, carers also took part in a photoshoot to develop imagery for the campaign, part of the campaign’s key objective to showcase the real Greater Manchester fostering community.
Stockport foster carer Pam, is the face of one of the campaign’s adverts, she said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be part of this Greater Manchester campaign and we really wanted to play a part in encouraging others to come forward. It’s not an easy role but reading the carer stories in this campaign will give you a rounded view of the role, the support you get and the difference you can make.
“We foster because my friend fostered for her local council, Tameside, and she inspired us into it 10 years ago. It’s such a rewarding role and it’s nice to see local carers stories come together are part of this site to bring to life the reality of fostering.”
On the Fostering Unfiltered website you can hear from a variety of Greater Manchester foster carers who share their own fostering journey and provide an insight into fostering that they would have found useful when they were considering the role.
You can follow the campaign on social media to hear all about fostering direct from our community of foster carers.
Fostering Unfiltered Facebook community group Fostering Unfiltered on Facebook Fostering Unfiltered on Instagram Fostering Unfiltered on TwitterArticle Published: 27/06/2023 15:32 PM