CASE STUDY

ECC Fostering

We deliver a series of emotive PR campaigns throughout the year to support Essex County Council Fostering team to recruit at least 60 new foster carers in the region every year.
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Client

ECC Fostering

Sector

Social Care

Healthcare

Services provided

Public Relations

The Situation

With rising numbers of children entering the foster care system, Essex County Council (ECC) needs to recruit at least 60 new foster carers every year. The ECC Fostering team approached PLMR Genesis to increase the number and quality of referrals from people interested in becoming a foster carer. 

We researched barriers which can prevent people taking the first step toward fostering and counter them. Our campaign aimed to educate the public about what fostering entails and bust fostering myths. Fostering is a big commitment, so target audiences needed to be inspired and feel an emotional pull to trigger enquiries. 

This campaign was launched in Foster Care Fortnight, the UK’s biggest foster care awareness campaign, with many other councils and independent fostering agencies competing for coverage. 

What we did

We created emotive case studies and newsworthy PR to inform and inspire potential foster carers. We used dual perspectives of foster cares revealing how rewarding fostering can be, while young care leavers described how their foster cares had changed their life. Case studies were pitched to the Essex media and we supported the foster carers through media interviews to ensure they spoke with confidence and reiterated ECC’s key campaign message. 

 

The Result

The Foster Care Fortnight campaign reached an estimated audience of 19.6 million people via TV, radio, print, online media, and social media pages belonging to media outlets. Enquiries about becoming a foster carer increased by 124% compared to the same period previously, as a direct result of the campaign.  

We have since been delivering up to 10 seasonal project campaigns every year for ECC Fostering, sharing the real stories and experiences of foster carers across Essex. Each campaign highlights the variety of fostering roles targeted to different audiences, including empty nesters, young families, singles and LGBTQ+ couples. We achieve an average of 14 media items per campaign across print, online media and broadcast. 

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PLMR’s crisis communications experience is second to none, and includes pre-emptive and reactive work across traditional and social media channels. We work with a range of organisations to offer critical communication support when they are faced with difficult and challenging scenarios.