Posted on Wednesday 24th October 2018
A short film to highlight the urgent need for foster carers in Staffordshire has been nominated for a prestigious television award.
Staffordshire County Council’s Fostering Service worked with 15 other local authorities and film production company ReelTwentyFive, to produce the film showing the story of a teenage boy and how the crucial addition of a foster carer shaped his life for the better.
The film, ‘There was A Boy’ was launched earlier this year in Birmingham as part of the national Foster Care Fortnight campaign. The short film has already been viewed across hundreds of channels since its premiere in May, including being screened at an ‘Awareness-film’ festival in Hollywood!
Now, it has been shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Television Society (RTS) awards, Midlands region, for the best ‘Short Form’ category. This includes short films, adverts, music videos, and documentaries.
Mark Sutton, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at Staffordshire County Council said:
“This is a wonderful short film that really shows the positive difference that fostering can make to teenagers lives, and we’re delighted it’s been nominated for the award.
“Working with our neighbouring authorities we have been able to produce a high-quality film which is helping us raise awareness of the need for more foster carers for teenagers. The film is fairly hard hitting and uplifting but is really helping us get the conversation around fostering started. Our fingers are all crossed for an award.”
Winners of the awards will be announced on Tuesday 20 November at Birmingham Town Hall.
Anyone interested in Fostering for Staffordshire County Council can call the team on 0800 169 2061 or visit Foster for Staffordshire.