Greater Manchester needs more foster carers. But while many people have the heart for fostering, they’re often daunted by the journey to becoming one.

Greater Manchester needs more foster carers. But while many people have the heart for fostering, they’re often daunted by the journey to becoming one.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) saw this as an opportunity to change perceptions.

And we partnered with them to launch a campaign that didn’t just recruit foster carers but redefined the conversation around fostering.

Our approach was bold, honest and refreshingly unpolished. ‘Fostering unfiltered’ was born from listening to the very people who live fostering every day – the carers themselves. We discovered that potential carers felt uninformed and pressured by the prospect of fostering, lacking a genuine understanding of what life as a foster carer really looks like.

We wanted to empower people with real insights into fostering, so we created a space where they could explore it openly without the pressure to commit. ‘Fostering unfiltered’ became a digital-first campaign that gave potential foster carers a way to educate themselves on their terms. Through a microsite we designed, (featuring a robust accessibility menu to widen participation), users could explore unfiltered stories from foster carers across Greater Manchester, giving them a candid look at topics like birth children, finances, support and the challenges foster carers actually face.

At the heart of this microsite was our gated resource, ‘What’s it really like to foster a child?’, which offered an honest perspective on fostering. This resource encouraged users to share their data, allowing Greater Manchester’s local authorities to build a meaningful connection with them over time through a tailored CRM strategy—meeting potential carers wherever they were in their journey.

Within just two months of the campaign’s launch in May 2023, the ‘Fostering unfiltered’ site had generated over 60 foster care leads. Our social campaigns reached 800,000 people, with over 1.6 million impressions across Greater Manchester.

Most importantly, this campaign inspired countless people to take that all-important first step into fostering, helping to pave the way for more secure, loving homes across the region.

60 foster care leads
800,000 campaign reach
1.6 million impressions
Greater Manchester Combined Authority

“We chose Eleven because it was clear from the outset that they have specialist knowledge and experience of the local authority fostering sector – and this really helped with engaging and managing what was a large and diverse group of stakeholders (including Directors of Children’s services, fostering service staff, comms colleagues and foster carers) to try and solve a complex issue.”

Director of Children’s Services, Bolton Council

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