Major star voices new campaign to transform how the public thinks and feels about social care

A new short film narrated by actor, comedian, broadcaster and international disability rights activist Liz Carr is released today, kicking off a new campaign to transform how people think and feel about social care.

In the film, commissioned by the #SocialCareFuture movement, the star of Marvel’s Loki 2 and The Witcher warns that ‘without big changes to the way we think about social care, we and the people we care about face losing control of our lives and contact with the people and things that make our lives worthwhile.’

The animated short, directed by multi-award-winning filmmaker, theatre designer and creative director Yoav Segal and made by Battlecat Studios, features the Silent Witness and Good Omens star saying that ‘it doesn’t have to be this way’.

Carr explains how, at its best, social care helps us to weave together the people, places and resources that permit us to live where we choose in the way that we want, with meaning, purpose and a sense of belonging at every age and stage of life. Carr says:

“I am thrilled to support this movement – everyone should have the right to live in a place they call home with the people and things that we love, in communities where we look out for one another, doing things that matter to us. I hope everyone can get behind calling for a brighter #SocialCareFuture.”

The film highlights initiatives such as Shared Lives, Circles of Support and Gig and Sports Buddies as offering better ways for social care to be imagined and organised. The campaign calls for greater investment by central government in growing these and other innovative approaches like community micro-enterprises and personal assistance, as well as the adoption of different behaviours and practices by local councils, in partnership with the people and communities they serve.

Anna Severwright, a convener of the Social Care Future movement, who herself draws on social care to live her life says:

”Social care isn’t just under-resourced, it’s also under-imagined. That is getting in the way of growing the care and support we and our families need and deserve.”

Anna continues:

“As a movement for change, we believe progress depends on shifting how the public thinks and feels about social care and on building stronger support for investment and reform. Our new film is based on extensive public audience research, which found that after exposure to these messages, the public saw social care as more relevant to themselves and their families, as more valuable to the wider community, felt more optimistic about the potential for change and accorded it greater priority for investment.”

Dr Anna Dixon, who chaired the Archbishops Commission on Reimagining Care says:

”Our commission concluded that without a shift in public attitudes both to care and to those who draw on care or support to live our lives, then much needed investment and reform will continue to elude us. I’m pleased to see Social Care Future lead the way in striving to positively shift how the wider public imagines and feels about social care and its importance to everyone in society.”

The short film is premiering at a gathering in Manchester to mark the 5th anniversary of the movement. It is available to watch above, as well as at www.socialcarefuture.org.uk where you will find more information about the movement.