John Lewis Christmas advert features sweet foster dad…

John Lewis Christmas advert features sweet foster dad learning to skateboard in moving story

John Lewis has released its Christmas advert for this year - and it will pull at your heartstrings.

The advert, titled The Beginner and set to a cover of Blink-182's All The Small Things by US artist Mike Geier, raises awareness of children in care. It tells the story of a middle-aged man, who is going to be a foster dad, and he is learning to skateboard as he prepares to welcome a teenage girl into the family home.

The film shows the man struggling to master skateboarding. He straps on his helmet and goes out to practise but ends up on the ground several times and suffering an injury or two. Viewers are left questioning the motive behind his perseverance until the final scene, which shows a social worker arriving at his door with a teenager who is carrying a skateboard.

John Lewis said it understood that not all foster carers had the benefit of knowing who they would be looking after in advance and that its broader campaign also featured "authentic voices of carers" and "young people with different experiences of a complex care system". But it said that "in a challenging year, we felt it was important to demonstrate that it's what we do that matters most", adding it was proud to use its Christmas ad to "generate conversation and action around an often overlooked issue".

The ad was created with agency adam&eveDDB, with input from charities Action for Children and Who Cares? Scotland. Alongside its longer-term work providing apprenticeship opportunities within the John Lewis Partnership for people leaving care, the retailer said it would make donations of Christmas decorations, food and gifts.

In the John Lewis advert, a foster family welcomes a teenager into their home (John Lewis and Partners/PA Wire)

Children in care and their caregivers will be invited to Santa's Grotto experiences in John Lewis stores and the retailer will also supply communal spaces of selected residential facilities run by Action for Children with electronics, furnishings and decorations.

John Lewis customer director Claire Pointon said: "We are fortunate to have a truly unique platform in our Christmas ad, which sparks a national conversation. At John Lewis we care deeply about families and recognise that they come in many different forms.

"For our biggest moment of the year, we decided to focus on one kind of family that is often overlooked. We are also very aware that not all care experience outcomes are as positive as Ellie's. The home Ellie enters is filled with kindness and the foster father's actions demonstrate that, ultimately, it's what you do that matters most."

Charlotte Lock, pan-partnership customer director, added: "Turbulent times worsen social inequalities and Christmas is a time when this can be most keenly felt. Our Christmas campaign is an important step in our long-term plans to become the employer of choice for young people leaving the care system and to provide lasting change and hope for children like Ellie."

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