Barnsley – Families First
Barnsley Council needed a compelling way to communicate the vision behind upcoming service reforms, both for families accessing support and for the professionals delivering it. The challenge was to sensitively capture the reality many families experience within the current system: feeling overwhelmed, repeatedly telling their story, being passed between services and professionals, and feeling that support was happening to them rather than with them.
Alongside the family perspective, the project also needed to reflect the challenges faced by partner organisations and frontline workers, including frustration around thresholds, increasing demand and pressure on capacity.
The goal was to create an engaging and accessible piece of content that could clearly demonstrate both the current experience and what a more connected, person-centred approach could look like if the reforms were implemented successfully.
The Solution
We worked closely with the client to shape the narrative from the ground up, supporting not only the animation production itself, but also the strategic storytelling behind it.
The animation contrasted the current fragmented experience with a future-state vision centred around:
- The right support at the right time
- Families only needing to tell their story once
- A single trusted lead professional
- More joined-up partnership working
- Families feeling empowered, supported and resilient
For professionals and partners, the animation also illustrated how improved collaboration and clearer pathways could reduce pressure, improve communication and create better outcomes for the families they support.
The Impact
The final animation became a powerful communications tool for engaging families, partners and stakeholders around the proposed reforms.
By translating complex system change into a relatable human story, the animation helped audiences clearly visualise both the challenges within the current system and the benefits of a more connected approach.
Most importantly, the animation helped place children and families at the heart of the conversation, reinforcing the importance of building services around people, not processes.