The best of you is still 'Out There'

The tagline holds for a moment on the screen, and then fades to black.

For a moment nobody speaks, letting the weight of the three minute and seven second film settle over the room.

There’s no doubt that ‘Out There,’ achieves everything it set out to - its messaging clear, and its storytelling impactful.

“It’s a brilliant film,” agrees Rachel Brown, fostering recruitment and service development officer for Coventry City Council, and chair of the forum and film collaboration.

“We were so delighted with how it came together, and so impressed again with the people who made it. It has been a labour of love and we have worked well together, taking the time to ensure this film strikes a balance, that there was nothing in there to stigmatise young people, and that, equally, it wasn’t overly emotional or soppy.

“IT CAPTURES THE HEART OF THE STORY WE WANTED TO TELL.”

‘Out There’ is the result of an incredible collaboration between 34 local councils and children’s trusts across the country - from Northumberland to Brighton - who joined forces earlier in the year for this truly unique film project.

The film’s aim is to help find more foster carers who can provide homes for the children and young people who need them, by highlighting the ways fostering can make a difference to the lives of everyone involved, from the children and young people who live with foster carers, to those who come forward to care for them.

‘Out There’ is the third fostering film to be made by this growing consortium of local authorities and Trusts - named the West Midlands Regional Fostering Recruitment Forum - none of whom would have had the capacity to produce films like this on their own.

“It started off as a purely West Midlands project,” says Brian McKinstrie, of Sandwell Children’s Trust - which is one of the project’s founding members. “Then with the pandemic, and all the virtual work that was suddenly going on, we realised that geography should no longer be a boundary, and invited other local authorities and Trusts from across the country to get involved with this latest film.

“THE IDEA WAS THAT, TOGETHER, WE COULD AFFORD TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT INDIVIDUALLY WE COULDN’T; SOMETHING THAT WOULD PUT US ON A PAR WITH SOME OF THE INDEPENDENT FOSTERING AGENCIES THAT HAVE MUCH LARGER BUDGETS THAN US.

“We’re all working towards the same goal, and by pooling our resources, every partner has been left with a copy of this incredible film, each with our own branding at the end, to allow us to promote fostering in our areas.”

The film, which had its national release in October, is now being used as a powerful recruitment tool in towns and cities across the country, but Brian is quick to point out the collaboration has produced much more than a film.

“What we are doing is unique in terms of cross-collaboration between local authorities and peer support,” he said.

“We’ve got 34 local authorities and Trusts working together towards the larger goal of recruiting enough foster carers to meet the national shortage.

“Because of the nature of our work, we’re all relatively isolated, in that we tend to be the only person doing marketing and promotion work in our individual councils or trusts, so what we have found by coming together in this way is the benefit of sharing good practice, of having access to a group of people who face the same challenges, and who may have solved them in slightly different ways.

“The collaboration and support is making us all better at our jobs, which can only improve the wider impact of what we can achieve.”