Source: City of Portsmouth
‘Everything’ launched on 17 October. It is the seventh film produced by a growing partnership of councils and children’s trusts to promote local authority fostering. The ‘Everything’ project is the largest collaboration yet.
Cllr Suzy Horton, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education at Portsmouth City Council, said:
“The ‘Everything’ project has given Foster Portsmouth an amazing film that shows the long-term impact fostering can have, with relationships between carers and children lasting well into adulthood.”
“All councils need to recruit more foster carers, and by collaborating to produce this emotionally powerful film, we will show people how rewarding and life-changing fostering is.”
“The message is the same for all of us; we need more people to step forward and become foster carers. ‘Everything’ will help us to reach more people in our communities and encourage them to find out more about this really rewarding role.”
“We are committed to giving vulnerable children and young people we care for the best chance to thrive.”
‘Everything’ follows foster carer Mike and his family on a journey through time with two of the children they have looked after, who are now adults. Will and Zara take time to reflect on how being fostered made a difference to their lives, and thank Mike for ‘everything’.
Thanks to footage shot on a genuine old camcorder, we are taken to the 1990s to see how Will settles into the family alongside Mike’s son Chris and the 2010s when a young Zara is being taught to play the guitar by Mike.
The concluding message of the film is that what you do with your life could forever change someone else’s – encouraging people to foster in order to make that change.
Project Director, Rachel Brown describes the main message of the film:
“Many people don’t realise how common it is for relationships made through fostering to last well beyond the ‘official’ caring role. This has a huge impact on the lives of those who have been fostered, giving them stability and security well into adulthood.
“We also wanted to reflect how the children of foster carers make a difference to children when they come into care, helping them to feel part of the family.”
“Having over 100 councils taking part in the project, the film will reach a very wide audience, encouraging people to find out more and take the steps towards becoming a foster carer.”
“Fostering with your local council means you can better support local children and young people who need a safe and nurturing home where they can grow and thrive.”
Sarah Thomas, chief executive of the Fostering Network says:
“The Fostering Network has been proud to support the collaborative film projects since ‘Giants’ in 2017. It’s great to see local authority fostering services pooling resources to produce another amazing film. ‘Everything’ will help to amplify their message about the chronic shortage of fostering households, encouraging more people to come forward and foster.”
“One of the main characters in the film, Chris, shows how important other family members are when it comes to fostering. This is something we champion throughout October, which is Children of Foster Carer’s Month.”
View the film ‘Everything’ at: http://www.fosterportsmouth.gov.uk/everything.
For more information on fostering with Foster Portsmouth, fill in our contact form, visit: http://www.foster.portsmouth.gov.uk, call the Fostering SouthEast recruitment team on 0300 131 2797 or email info@lafosteringse.org.uk.