Swype and Foster4 win UK Agency Award for foster care recruitment campaign

Swype and Foster4 have won Best Not-for-Profit Campaign (Small) at the UK Agency Awards 2026 for a foster carer recruitment effort across Cheshire and Merseyside. The win highlights a multi-channel public-sector campaign built around qualified enquiries, transparent reporting and a 59% lower cost per conversion than previous council-led efforts.

Why it matters: - The award spotlights a public-sector recruitment campaign that aimed to find suitable foster carers, not just drive clicks or form fills. - The work shows how multiple councils can share one digital recruitment model while still speaking to local needs. - The campaign’s results matter because foster carer recruitment is a high-stakes, long-consideration decision with real service impact for local authorities and children in care.

What happened: - Swype and Foster4 won Best Not-for-Profit Campaign (Small) at the UK Agency Awards 2026 for the Landmark Unified Local Authority Foster Care Recruitment Campaign. - The recognition was announced on October 30, 2026. - The campaign supported foster carer recruitment across Cheshire and Merseyside. - The award covered strategy, creative thinking, digital delivery and transparent reporting behind a multi-six-figure contract. - The judges described the work as a mix of “strategic clarity and operational excellence.” - Judges also called it an “extremely strong entry and campaign” and a “fantastic sector-first achievement.” - The win adds to earlier recognition for the same campaign at the Global Digital Excellence Awards 2026. - The campaign was also named a finalist at the UK Paid Media Awards 2026.

The details: - Foster4 was built to bring local authorities across Cheshire and Merseyside into one shared foster carer recruitment initiative. - Before Foster4, councils ran activity separately with different messages, systems, campaign structures and performance levels. - Swype developed and delivered the digital strategy. - The work included new advertising accounts, cross-channel tracking, campaign structure, search visibility improvements and live cross-platform reporting. - Swype launched 178 campaigns across Google, Meta and Microsoft. - Search activity targeted high-intent terms and borough-level needs. - Paid social built awareness and sent potential applicants to information, events and resources. - SEO work improved Foster4’s visibility for people searching for foster care information. - The campaign generated 191,000 website visits through paid activity. - SEO improved 153 relevant keyword positions. - Cost per conversion was 59% lower than the average from previous individual council-led campaigns. - Swype centered reporting on meaningful actions and qualified enquiries. - Live reporting gave councils a shared view of performance and helped them respond faster to changes. - The judging panel praised the objective-setting, transparency around media spend and fees, and the focus on qualified enquiries.

Between the lines: - The campaign moved away from a standard lead-generation model and toward a longer recruitment journey. - Swype built messaging around how people actually think about fostering, including concerns about eligibility, work, finances, family life and existing relationships. - Campaign concepts were shaped by conversations with real foster carers. - The creative addressed common misconceptions about age, working while fostering and the types of fostering available. - The approach was designed to help the right people become informed before they applied. - The award also reflects the operational challenge of aligning multiple public-sector partners around one definition of success. - Wesley Holmes, Founder and Creative Director at Swype, said the judges recognized both the strategy and the operational detail behind the campaign. - Holmes also said the work brought several councils, platforms and stages of the recruitment journey into one transparent system.

What’s next: - Swype will keep refining the campaign as search behavior, media costs and local authority needs change. - The agency will continue using data, recruitment-team feedback and foster carers’ input to improve the journey. - Foster4 remains a live campaign, with ongoing learning shaping future performance.

The bottom line: - Swype and Foster4 turned foster care recruitment into a coordinated, data-led public-service campaign, and the award signals that quality of enquiry mattered as much as volume.