New national campaign to find more foster carers launched
The Scottish Government has today (12 May) launched a new national campaign - Ordinary can be extraordinary for a child in foster care, to encourage more people to consider fostering and ultimately recruit more foster carers.
The campaign, which marks the start of Foster Care Fortnight, will run until the end of June and plans to raise awareness of the benefits of fostering and to ‘challenge outdated assumptions’. It focuses on how the everyday ‘ordinary’ can be extraordinary and transformational for some children and young people.
Speaking at the launch, First Minister John Swinney said:
“Foster carers play a vital role supporting and providing safe and loving foster homes to children and young people. They are key to our ambition of delivering The Promise by 2030.
“Across Scotland, foster carers provide stability, care and connection to support children and young people to thrive.
Anne Currie, Assistant Director for Scotland at The Fostering Network, said:
“We welcome the launch of the Scottish Government’s national campaign to recruit foster carers, and we’re proud to back this initiative by providing additional support to our Fosterline service to specifically manage enquiries.
“We hope this leads to more people stepping forward to become foster carers in Scotland, and raises awareness of the vital role fostering plays. The need has never been more urgent – as over 350 foster carers leave each year, it's critical that we take action now."