In January 2018, Durham County Council launched the #BeTheReason campaign. The aim of the campaign was to produce a consistent strapline for foster care that both increased recruitment of new foster carers and challenged some of the negative misconceptions around fostering, reminding existing foster carers of the wonderful job that they do. The campaign introduces various reasons for fostering from “#BeTheReason a child sleeps peacefully” to “#BeTheReason they feel they belong”. 

In conjunction with the launch of #BeTheReason, the fostering service has moved to a more modern approach, utilising social media more regularly and readily to increase channels of communication with prospective carers.  This has led to an increase in prospective carers enquiring, with the September 2018 advertising campaign leading to the most enquiries in a single month since 2012.