Faces of Fostering, with Rankin

Dispelling fostering misconceptions

Ensuring a broad diversity of foster carers to meet the needs of children from all backgrounds is a key mission for National Fostering Group (NFG). At the same time, more carers are urgently needed in the UK than ever before.

As part of NFG’s ongoing foster carer recruitment campaign, ‘Faces of Fostering’ was designed to celebrate and call on carers from all walks of life, highlight misconceptions and dispel myths around who can and can’t foster, and show others that they can foster too – while positioning NFG as the agency of choice.

Using consumer polling we were able to pinpoint the various misconceptions currently held by the UK population, which are stopping many from considering fostering. Whilst also delving into the ‘Tracy Beaker effect,’ exploring how media representation and TV programmes shape public views on fostering. 

We knew that we wanted to create a visually stunning and picture-led campaign that would celebrate and portray the diverse faces of the many different foster carers who foster through NFG and counter the wrongly held misconceptions.

Working with Rankin

Famous for photographing everyone from Kate Moss to the Queen, we decided to team up with world renowned photographer Rankin to capture 12 beautiful, uplifting and celebratory portraits of our diverse foster carers. 

Each image told a powerful story, challenging preconceptions and championing diversity. From disabilities to ethnicities, marital statuses to sexual orientations, our portraits painted a vibrant tableau of fostering’s true faces.

Together with Behind-the-Scenes video content and our consumer polling, we had a compelling package for national and regional media, as well as ongoing content for NFG’s social channels and CRM.

Results 

20+ in-depth articles with case studies, spokesperson commentary, images and/or vide, including key national titles: Express, Mirror, The Sun, Daily Star and Yahoo! 

Regional coverage is also crucial for NFG’s regional agencies: to date we’ve placed 15 in-depth case-study led features with NFG’s foster carers, including front page of the Yorkshire Post, BBC Radio Wales, Kent Online and Surrey Live. 

As well as in vertical titles such as Scene (LGBTQ+), SAGA Magazine (over 50s) and Digital Camera World (trade).