Significantly more registrations of foster parents after broadcasting ‘Buy Without Watching’
Television-watching Netherlands was touched by the story of Paul (33) and Kim (30) in ‘Buying without Watching’. It shows how they look for a dream home for themselves and their three foster daughters. After this broadcast, the number of registrations for foster care increased enormously.
The fact that Paul and Kim have three foster children was mentioned several times in ‘their episode’. The two took the three girls into their home two years ago. Their story impressed many viewers. Shortly after the broadcast of ‘Buying without Watching’, about three hundred people registered with Pleegzorg Nederland. They wanted to know more about becoming a foster parent. For comparison: normally that is about sixty people a week.
People initially request information via the website and then come into contact with a foster care organization in their area. Normally about a quarter of them actually become foster parents. Or is it the same with these three hundred people? That is difficult to predict.
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The registrations are badly needed, according to the organization. There is a serious shortage of foster parents in the Netherlands: there are currently around 700 children waiting for a new home. Janette Reukers is spokesperson for Pleegzorg Nederland and tells NOS that the accessible way in which viewers came into contact with foster care has helped. About 1.3 million people watched the broadcast of ‘Watch without Buying’. And that doesn’t even include the forward and backward viewers.
