Home Our Work Join the fostering family

Uniting councils across Greater Manchester to engage new foster families.

Foster for Greater Manchester needed to unite ten boroughs behind a shared goal: inspiring more local people to become foster carers. They were looking for a cohesive campaign with the heart, flexibility, and clarity to motivate potential carers and support them through those important first steps.

Scroll

A collaborative approach to fostering recruitment

Fostering is vital. It gives children the stability, care, and opportunities they need to thrive. But becoming a foster carer isn’t an overnight decision. It’s a journey, full of questions, concerns, and considerations.

Our challenge was to create a cohesive visual and verbal identity for Foster for Greater Manchester that would unite ten boroughs under a single, compelling brand, while giving each local authority the flexibility to speak directly to their communities. We worked together with a network of stakeholders to put children and young people back at the heart of the brand, while challenging misconceptions that can prevent people from considering fostering.

Date
March 2024 - Ongoing

Client
Foster for Greater Manchester

Scope of work

Behavioural diagnosis
Brand development & visual identity
Campaign development & activation
Stakeholder engagement

Understanding the challenges of fostering recruitment

Fostering is a journey. It’s a complex and personal decision, and when considering it people move through stages of awareness, exploration, and finally, commitment. To improve fostering recruitment we needed to meet potential carers where they are, giving them the right information at the right stage in that journey.

We worked with Foster for Greater Manchester to design a multistage behavioural strategy, built around that process and grounded in research and insight.

Reviewing the research to build behavioural profiles

We began with a thorough review of fostering literature, local data, and surveys with current foster carers. From this, our behavioural science and insight team developed detailed profiles of potential carers at different points in the journey.

Level 1: People who aren’t yet considering fostering, who may hold misconceptions or feel unsure. Messaging here must focus on empathy, inspiration, and reassurance, helping them understand the positive impact they could have on a child’s life.
Level 2: suitable, though not considering in the short term. They may be actively researching fostering. At this stage, communication must emphasise practical guidance, clarity, and support, addressing common questions and showing what the journey entails.
Level 3: Prospective carers ready to take action. Messaging must be reassuring, validating, and community-focused, highlighting training, support networks, and the tangible benefits of joining the fostering family.

This multistage approach fed into a robust messaging framework, ensuring touch points could be targeted to a specific stage of the journey. Even subtle shifts in language reflected the strategy: evolving “Join our fostering family” to “Join the fostering family” emphasised the pre-existing supportive network potential carers would become part of.

By blending behavioural science with creative storytelling, the campaign doesn’t just look compelling, it actively guides people from curiosity to commitment, helping more carers take that first crucial step.

A billboard along a canal for the 'Join the Fostering Family' fostering recruitment campaign.

Printed foster carers' guide for the 'Join the Fostering Family' fostering recruitment campaign.

Bringing behavioural strategy to life through empathetic creative

Working with all ten local authorities within the Greater Manchester region, we refreshed the Foster for Greater Manchester identity. The new look retained familiar elements while introducing a fresh, approachable personality. Visuals are playful and childlike, with rough-edged photos, doodles, and textures that reflect the “no one size fits all” nature of fostering.

The tone of voice is clear, human, encouraging, and empathetic. It communicates the benefits of fostering while gently challenging misconceptions, helping potential carers feel seen, understood, and inspired. By developing this alongside the behavioural profiles and messaging framework, we were able to ensure this consistent feeling across all outputs.

The identity was designed for flexibility. Each local authority could tailor messages and imagery to reflect their own services, support networks, and community demographics. This ensures that the brand feels personal and relevant across all ten local authorities.

Digital ad mockups for the 'Join the Fostering Family' fostering recruitment campaign.

Stockport localised digital out of home screen, at shopping centre with people in the foreground as part of the fostering recruitment campaign.

Moving from strategy to implementation: rolling out the regional fostering campaign

The refreshed identity has been rolled out across multiple channels, including:

Individual branding assets for each local authority
Out-of-home (OOH) campaigns
Digital advertising
Organic social media assets
Printed ‘welcome’ guides with localised inserts
Merchandise for local events, such as fun runs and Manchester Pride
TV campaigns
Website improvements

Every element is aligned with the multistage messaging framework, ensuring potential carers are nurtured along the journey from curiosity to commitment.

A billboard the 'Join the Fostering Family' fostering recruitment campaign.

Two bus stop posters for the 'Join the Fostering Family' fostering recruitment campaign.

Evolving the recruitment strategy through real stories and lived experience storytelling

The Foster for Greater Manchester campaign is evolving. Next, we are focusing on stories from foster carers – joyful, down to earth and really genuine. These stories will reflect the diversity of local communities, showcasing both the challenges and rewards of fostering, and inspiring more people to take that first step.

By combining behavioural science, creative storytelling, and local flexibility, Foster for Greater Manchester now has a campaign that informs, inspires, and grows the fostering community across Greater Manchester, one family at a time.

Ready to transform your recruitment strategy?

The success of the Greater Manchester campaign proves that strategic thinking, brand cohesion, and behavioural science are the keys to building a robust foster carer pipeline.

If your local authority, fostering network, or charity is ready to move beyond short-term fixes and implement a data-driven, long-term recruitment strategy that increases commitment and drives applications.

See more projects:

Knowledge Equity Network

The Knowledge Equity Network (KEN) is a global initiative by the University of Leeds designed to make knowledge more accessible and inclusive. Developed in collaboration with Magpie, KEN unites universities, organisations, and individuals worldwide in a shared mission to reduce inequalities in higher education through open collaboration and equitable knowledge-sharing.

Rethinking youth sexual violence prevention

Navigating big feelings - from friendship drama to rejection and heartbreak - isn’t easy, especially in the online world where harmful messages can spread fast. Check the vibe helps young people understand and manage their emotions so they can make positive choices.