Little Acorns Launches “The Difference Is You” – a Call for Foster Carers Across the East of England
Little Acorns Fostering has launched a new foster carer recruitment campaign, The Difference Is You, calling on people across Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and the surrounding counties to consider fostering.
The message behind the campaign is deliberately simple. You don’t have to be extraordinary to make a difference to a child’s life. Sometimes, you just have to be there.
More foster families are urgently needed
The shortage of foster carers across England remains significant.
The latest Ofsted fostering figures show there were 56,345 approved mainstream foster carers in England in March 2025. That’s 12% fewer than in 2021.
The Fostering Network estimates that 5,000 more foster families are needed across England in 2026. Of those, around 440 are needed in the East of England.
Having more foster families isn’t simply about increasing numbers. It gives social workers a better chance of finding the right family for each individual child.
In March 2025, 44% of children in care were living outside the boundary of the local authority responsible for them. Twenty-two per cent were living more than 20 miles from home.
There can be good reasons why a child needs to live further away. But having more suitable foster carers locally gives children a better chance of remaining closer to their school, friends, family and community when that’s right for them.
“Behind every one of those numbers is a child waiting for someone to say yes,” said Cheryl Jillions of Little Acorns Fostering. “We meet people all the time who assume they’re somehow not the right sort – too old, too ordinary, too busy – when in truth they’re exactly who these children need. The difference a child is waiting for isn’t a qualification or a perfect house. It’s a person. It’s you.”
The Difference Is You
At the heart of The Difference Is You fostering campaign is a short film featuring Little Acorns foster carer Mick Davis.
Mick speaks in his own words about fostering, his family and what nearly two decades as a foster carer have meant to him.
It’s deliberately human storytelling. There are no actors and no attempt to make fostering look perfect.
Instead, the film addresses a question that stops many people before they ever make an enquiry:
The answer is that ordinary people do it every day.
Mick’s message to anyone hesitating is characteristically direct.
“You’ll have reasons why you think you shouldn’t go forward with fostering. But I’d say to anyone out there, just pick the phone up, keep an open mind, and find out what it’s really about. It will change your life, just like it changed mine.”
You might be more suited to fostering than you think
Another aim of the campaign is to challenge some of the assumptions that cause people to rule themselves out.
There is no upper age limit for fostering. You don’t need to own your home and you don’t need formal qualifications.
You can foster if you’re single or in a relationship. Working doesn’t automatically prevent you from fostering either, although your working arrangements need to fit with the needs of the child you’re caring for.
We’ve explored these misconceptions in more detail in Fostering Myths You Might Not Know.
People whose own children have grown up can also be particularly well placed to foster. They often have parenting experience, greater stability and a spare bedroom already available. Our article on fostering after your children leave home looks at why this stage of life can be an excellent time to start.
What about the financial side of fostering?
Prospective foster carers also understandably want to know whether fostering is financially realistic.
Foster carers receive payments to help meet the costs of caring for a child and to recognise the skills and responsibilities involved.
Many foster carers pay little or no Income Tax on their fostering income because of HMRC’s Qualifying Care Relief arrangements.
We believe people should be able to understand the finances before making a decision. Our plain-English guide to how much foster carers get paid explains allowances, payments and tax in more detail.
“We’re not asking people to be heroes,” Cheryl added. “We’re asking them to think seriously about the spare room, the patience they already have, and the child down the road who has nobody. Come and talk to us. Ask the awkward questions. That first conversation costs nothing, and for a child somewhere in this region, it could be the beginning of everything.”
The difference one person can make
The campaign isn’t only about recruiting foster carers. It’s also about showing what the relationship between a foster carer and a child can become.
Bebe Jackson’s fostering story demonstrates that better than any statistic could.
Bebe came to foster carers Mick and Pauline when she was eleven. Today, she’s an international para-athlete and World Championship medallist. She’s also still very much part of their family and calls Mick her Granddad.
Her achievements are her own. But her story shows what stability, encouragement and having somebody consistently in your corner can mean to a young person.
That’s what The Difference Is You is really about.
A national challenge felt locally
The campaign launches at a time when fostering is firmly on the national agenda.
In February 2026, the Government published its Renewing Fostering strategy, setting an ambition to create up to 10,000 additional foster care places in England by April 2029.
It’s an acknowledgement of a national challenge. But children experience that challenge locally.
It’s felt when the right foster family can’t be found nearby. It’s felt when brothers and sisters can’t be placed together, or when there isn’t a carer available with the right skills for a particular child.
Recruiting more foster carers across Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and the surrounding areas gives local authorities more choice when they’re trying to find the right family for a child.
Could the difference be you?
Making an enquiry about fostering doesn’t commit you to becoming a foster carer.
It’s simply a conversation.
You can ask about what the fostering process involves, the support available to foster carers, finances, training, your family circumstances or anything else you’re unsure about.
You don’t have to know whether fostering is right for you before you call. That’s what the conversation is for.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you could foster, this might be the time to find out.
Discover The Difference Is You and start a conversation with Little Acorns today.