Foster Care Fortnight runs from 14th to 27th May 2018 and this is how you can get involved – and you don’t have to be a foster carer!
Foster Care Fortnight is the annual awareness-raising campaign about fostering, what it is and what potential foster families offer a child in need.
Foster care placements vary, depending on the needs of the child and by raising awareness of fostering, fostering agencies and local authorities hope to fill the gap by enlisting more people to be foster carers.
To get involved, you don’t need to be a foster carer, but your support will make all the difference. Whether you currently foster, have fostered or have been a looked after child yourself, this is how everybody can get involved with the campaign.
Spread the word
There are 7,000 more foster families needed across the UK to offer a safe, nurturing environment to the thousands of children who can’t live with their birth families.
As you would expect, to spread the word about Foster Care Fortnight, The Fostering Network who organise and run the annual event, are relying on the power of social media amongst other things.
Use the hashtags
There are three hashtags that have been developed and you can use them in tweets, posts and updates on your social media accounts to promote awareness and support the call to recruit more foster carers.
Use #FCF18 throughout the fortnight or;
- If you are a foster carer, show your support by proudly using the caption “I’m … and I’m #ProudToFoster
e.g. I’m from Scotland and I’m #ProudToFoster
- If you are currently a foster carer and want to show your support, tweet or post the caption “I’m… and I’m #ProudToSupportFostering”
e.g. I’m a librarian and I’m #ProudToSupportFostering
Make a film
Short films are shared across social media all the time and The Fostering Network are asking foster carers to make a short film, filmed in an appropriate location or setting. As part of the short clip, complete the phrase “I’m … and I’m #ProudToFoster”.
Send the clip to [email protected] to be included in The Fostering Network’s montage.
Share your experience
Celebrities, musicians, politicians and stars of the sporting world are supporting Foster Care Fortnight in many ways. Some are choosing to share snippets of their own personal foster care stories, whether that was growing up for part or all of their childhood in foster care or being a foster carer.
Sharing your story is a deeply personal decision but sharing part of it could be the turning point for someone deciding to become a foster carer.
Fostering in Scotland
As of December 2017, there were 6,993 children in Scotland being cared for away from the family home. Three-quarters of these children live with foster families. But 640 more foster families are needed and with a successful Foster Care Fortnight, it is not an unrealistic target to reach.
Join the Thunderclap!
Foster Care Fortnight will launch on 14th May with a thunderclap, a massive, organised social media storm – a bit like a flash mob but online!
You can register for a tweet and a post to be put out via your Twitter and Facebook account. Why not sign up for the Foster Care Fortnight Thunderclap?
