New Directors appointed by FiMT

The Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), established to help ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition back to civilian life, has appointed five new Directors to its Board: Ross Campbell, Anaїs Reding, Nick Roberts, Robert Robson and Andrew Ward.

Ross Campbell is the Director, Public Sector at the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW) where he leads the Institute’s work to improve standards in the management of the Public Finances, both in the UK and internationally.  Before taking up his current role at the ICAEW, Ross was the accounting policy lead and financial reporting standard setter for the UK Central Government at HM Treasury.

Anaїs Reding is Head of Engagement at the Government Digital Service where she leads work to support departments to build citizen-centric services quickly and cost-effectively through the use of cross-government platforms. Previously Anaїs worked as a senior strategy advisor for the Ministry of Justice and the Cabinet Office. Before joining Government, Anaїs worked for the policy research organisation RAND Europe where she specialised in Security and Defence.

Nick Roberts is President of SNC-Lavalin’s Engineering, Design and Project Management sector. He is responsible for the company’s infrastructure engineering and design services around the world, with the exception of activities in Canada. Prior to his current role, Nick was Chief Executive Officer of Atkins’ business in the UK and Europe, focusing on strategy, organisational agility and rapid innovation, driving change across the organisation particularly around the fusion of the digital and physical environment.

Robert Robson joined The Royal Navy as a General List Seaman Officer in 1981. He joined Barclays plc in 1987 and over a 20-year career held a variety of senior management roles in the UK and overseas before returning to the UK as COO of the International Private Bank. He became the first CEO of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity in 2008. He is a Director of Cobseo and Veterans Scotland and a Member of the Mary Rose Trust.

Andrew Ward works in the Barclays investments business, focussing on governance, contracts and external commitments. Andrew is a Solicitor and he practised in City law firms Stephenson Harwood and Freshfields before moving to Barclays as an in-house counsel. Within Barclays Andrew has held legal leadership roles across the Barclays Group. Andrew then moved from Barclays Legal into the business line, initially in the leadership team of the Barclays global trusts and corporate services business including joining the boards of Barclays trustee entities, before moving to his current role.

Ray Lock, Chief Executive of FiMT, said: “The purpose of FiMT is to enable all ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition back into civilian life.

“We warmly welcome the new Directors to FiMT and are extremely grateful for the voluntary time and effort they are committing to our mission.  As we develop our influence strategy to deliver the impact we seek, we want to ensure that the body of evidence we fund, reaches the policy makers and service providers we need to make the necessary improvements to the transition pathway.  The skills and experiences that our new Directors bring will add to the Board’s already substantial capability, and we are excited to be working with them.”

For more information on the new appointees to the Board of Directors you can find it here www.fim-trust.org/about-us/the-board/

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Note to Editor:  Ray Lock is available for interview. To arrange please contact Tina McKay, Communications Officer at FiMT on co@fim-trust.org or on 07956 101132 or 0207 901 8916.

About the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT):

FiMT came about from a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (‘the Fund’), Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities) and other charities and organisations. FiMT continues the Fund’s long-standing legacy of support for veterans across the UK with an endowment of £35 million awarded in 2012. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.

The mission of FiMT is to enable ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, and it delivers this mission by generating an evidence base that influences and underpins policy making and service delivery.

FiMT awards grants (for both responsive and commissioned work) to support its change model around 6 outcomes in the following areas: Housing; Employment; Health and wellbeing; Finance; Criminal Justice System; and Relationships. All work is published in open access and hosted on the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre’s Veterans and Families Research Hub. A high standard of reportage is demanded of all grant holders so as to provide a credible evidence base from which better informed decisions can be made.

Useful links

Website: www.fim-trust.org

Reports: www.fim-trust.org/reports/

Who we have helped: www.fim-trust.org/who-we-have-helped/

Twitter: @FiMTrust

About the Mental Health Research Programme: www.fim-trust.org/mental-health/research-programme/

Restorative approach to community based mental health support explored for ex-Service personnel and their families

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has awarded Tros Gynnal Plant funds of £284,427 to enable them to pilot a three-year trial of a community based mental health support service for ex-Service personnel and their families from Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, who have a Service-related mental health problem.

Tros Gynnal Plant, a Wales based charity focusing on children, young people and families, will work alongside the current Veterans NHS Wales (VNHSW) service to help ex-Service personnel who have been referred to the VNHSW.

The first of its kind, the project will employ Restorative Engagement to help ex-Service personnel and their families improve their relationships, communication and family functioning. The restorative process is underpinned by participation, fairness, trust and empathy, which facilitate individual and family changes by building on existing family and individual strengths. In turn this leads to improved levels of self-esteem, confidence and autonomy.

The study from the trial will be undertaken by Cascade at Cardiff University, and will both qualitatively and quantitatively assess the impact on the following areas:

• Family communication
• Family relationships
• Family ability and confidence to recognize and resolve problems
• The problems and difficulties that triggered service use

Ray Lock, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust said: “This three-year community-based trial by Tros Gynnal Plant could help the relatively small number of Service families, who are in need of mental health support, transition more successfully and enable them to have a fulfilling and enriching family life. The length of this particular trial should produce robust evidence on the provisions required to help families, and to enable services to offer a tailored community-based support to those in need.

“As with all our work, we are keen to generate the evidence about if and how this model works, and subsequently ensure policy makers and service providers consider it as a means of supporting the Armed Forces Community.”

Jackie Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Tros Gynnal Plant said: “We are extremely grateful to FiMT and very proud and excited to be developing an intervention for ex-service personnel and their families.  Tros Gynnal Plant has successfully pioneered the use of Restorative Engagement methods with families and this funding from the FiMT will allow us to develop a much-needed service model aiming to enrich the family lives of ex-Servicemen and women that can then be adopted across the UK.”

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Note to Editor:  Ray Lock is available for interview. To arrange please contact Tina McKay, Communications Officer at FiMT on co@fim-trust.org or on 07956 101132 or 0207 901 8916.

About the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT):

FiMT came about from a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (‘the Fund’), Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities) and other charities and organisations. FiMT continues the Fund’s long-standing legacy of support for veterans across the UK with an endowment of £35 million awarded in 2012. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.

The mission of FiMT is to enable ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, and it delivers this mission by generating an evidence base that influences and underpins policy making and service delivery.

FiMT awards grants (for both responsive and commissioned work) to support its change model around 6 outcomes in the following areas: Housing; Employment; Health and wellbeing; Finance; Criminal Justice System; and Relationships. All work is published in open access and hosted on the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre’s Veterans and Families Research Hub. A high standard of reportage is demanded of all grant holders so as to provide a credible evidence base from which better informed decisions can be made.

Useful links

Website: www.fim-trust.org

Reports: www.fim-trust.org/reports/

Who we have helped: www.fim-trust.org/who-we-have-helped/

Twitter: @FiMTrust

About the Mental Health Research Programme: www.fim-trust.org/mental-health/research-programme/

Female Service leaver employment outcomes

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), a grant awarding body with the aim of enabling all ex-Service personnel and their families to have a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, has just passed a significant milestone – their 100^th grant award.

The award to Cranfield University, for £96,688, coincides with the celebration of 100 years of women serving in the UK Armed Forces. The focus of this work is to explore the transition that female Service leavers make from the Armed Forces to civilian employment.

The decision to commission this research came about as FiMT identified a lack of evidence about the employment outcomes for female Service leavers.  Cranfield School of Management, in partnership with the Institute for Employment Studies, were appointed to deliver this research following a competitive tender process.

The statistics suggest that after leaving Service, women are less likely than their male counterparts to gain paid employment and are more likely to be economically inactive. This research aims to shed light for the first time on this field to understand the reasons women leave, why their outcomes are different to their male counterparts, and how these different outcomes might be addressed.

The research will consist of a mixed approach and will also make comparisons between female Service leavers and women in the labour market in general, including employment, unemployment and inactivity rates.

Emma Parry, Professor of Human Resource Management and Head of the School’s Changing World of Work group, said: “There is a lack of evidence about the employment outcomes for female Armed Forces leavers, but what data is available seems to suggest that women struggle more to obtain paid employment in civilian life. Through our research, we will endeavour to find out if this is the case, why it might be happening and what the Government, business and society can do about it.

“We are delighted to have been commissioned by the Forces in Mind Trust to carry out this important piece of work, and are looking forward to getting started.”

Ray Lock, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust said: “It’s fantastic that as we celebrate 100 years of women serving in the UK Armed Forces, our 100^th grant award relates to gaining a better understanding of their outcomes post-service.

“We at Forces in Mind Trust have, over the past five years, funded several pieces of research relating to employment outcomes – which can be a critical component of successful transition.  In this case it is the outcomes of female Service leavers where we are focusing.”

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Note to Editor:  Ray Lock is available for interview. To arrange please contact Tina McKay, Communications Officer at FiMT on co@fim-trust.org or on 07956 101132 or 0207 901 8916.

About the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT):

FiMT came about from a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (‘the Fund’), Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities) and other charities and organisations. FiMT continues the Fund’s long-standing legacy of support for veterans across the UK with an endowment of £35 million awarded in 2012. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.

The mission of FiMT is to enable ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, and it delivers this mission by generating an evidence base that influences and underpins policy making and service delivery.

FiMT awards grants (for both responsive and commissioned work) to support its change model around 6 outcomes in the following areas: Housing; Employment; Health and wellbeing; Finance; Criminal Justice System; and Relationships. All work is published in open access and hosted on the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre’s Veterans and Families Research Hub. A high standard of reportage is demanded of all grant holders so as to provide a credible evidence base from which better informed decisions can be made.

Useful links

Website: www.fim-trust.org

Reports: www.fim-trust.org/reports/

Who we have helped: www.fim-trust.org/who-we-have-helped/

Twitter: @FiMTrust

For further information from Cranfield University please contact:

Media Relations, Cranfield University. T: +44 (0) 1234 75 4999

Email: mediarelations@cranfield.ac.uk

 About Cranfield University

Cranfield is an exclusively postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.

In November 2017, the University was granted Silver Employer Recognition by the Ministry of Defence. The award recognises organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to the Armed Forces community and share the values defined in the Armed Forces Covenant.

 Cranfield School of Management

Cranfield has been a world leader in management education and research for 50 years, helping individuals and organisations learn and succeed by transforming knowledge into action. We are dedicated to creating responsible management thinking, improving business performance and inspiring the next generation of business leaders. We work to change the lives of our students and executives by encouraging innovation and creative thinking, as well as the drive to succeed and make a real impact on their organisations.

Organisations as diverse as Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems, Royal Dutch Shell, L’Oréal, UNICEF and the African Development Bank have benefited from our work, which ranges from management research projects, through staff talent management development on our MBA courses, to customised executive programmes.

Cranfield is one of an elite group of Schools worldwide to hold the triple accreditation of: AACSB International (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) and AMBA (the Association of MBAs).

It is in the Top 10 International Business Schools in the Forbes’ ranking.

Armed Forces charities help quarter of a million people with physical health issues

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) and the Directory of Social Change (DSC) today (25 January) release the report Focus On: Armed Forces Charities’ Physical Health Provision, which reveals that 121 charities deliver services to at least 250,000 beneficiaries in the Armed Forces Community.

This ground-breaking research maps for the first time Armed Forces charities’ physical health support with the charities spending at least £103 million on physical health provision last year.

One charity to every 2,070 beneficiaries

The report reveals there is approximately one charity to every 2,070 beneficiaries accessing support for physical health. By comparison, this was roughly seven-times greater than the number of people accessing education/employment (one charity to every 450 beneficiaries) and 25 times greater than those accessing mental health support (one charity to every 130 beneficiaries). This finding highlights the huge demand for physical health services placed upon a small number of Armed Forces charities.

Variety and depth of provision

Analysis shows that many charities provide lifelong support for members of the Armed Forces community, across a range of specific injury and illness types (not all of which are attributable to Service life), with ‘limited mobility’ being the most commonly supported type of injury/illness. The most commonly provided services also include recreation-based support, adapted housing provision, and respite services.

The report highlights a range of clinical and non-clinical services, from physiotherapy and nursing to adapted housing and scuba diving. DSC also explore the variety and depth of provision being made by Armed Forces charities, which can have a dramatic effect on an individual’s recuperation from injury or improved quality of life for an ageing veteran population.

Grant-making practices, best practice, partnerships between charities, and collaboration with other healthcare providers are also explored in DSC’s latest research.

Tom Traynor, Head of Research at the Directory of Social Change, said: “DSC are proud to extend our relationship with FiMT, who we have partnered with since 2014 to produce insightful research on the armed forces charity sector.

“The aim of the Focus On series is not only to highlight the vital work our armed forces charities do for their respective beneficiaries, but also to create a better knowledgebase for policymakers and these charities to continue to act in the best interests of our Armed Forces community.”

Ray Lock, Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust, said: “The purpose of FiMT is to enable all ex-Service personnel and their families to make a successful and sustainable transition back into civilian life. By funding reports, such as this Focus On series, evidence-based knowledge can be presented to policy makers and service deliverers to influence and bring about change where needed.

“This detailed report provides an important insight into the physical health support a relatively small number of charities provide to the Armed Forces Community across the UK.”

Focus On: Armed Forces Charities’ Physical Health Provision is the third of six reports from DSC which provide detailed information on Armed Forces Charities’ support for key areas of need. Download the free report at www.dsc.org.uk/physical-health

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Note to Editor: 

DSC Research Manager – Stuart Cole, is available for comment or interview via scole@dsc.org.uk or 0151 708 0136.

About DSC: Founded in 1974, the Directory of Social Change (DSC) is a national charity which champions an independent voluntary sector through campaigning, training and publications. DSC is the largest supplier of information and training to the voluntary sector, and its work helps tens of thousands of organisations every year achieve their aims. Learn more at www.dsc.org.uk.

Ray Lock is available for interview. To arrange please contact Tina McKay, Communications Officer at FiMT on co@fim-trust.org or on 07956 101132 or 0207 901 8916.

About the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT):

FiMT came about from a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (‘the Fund’), Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities) and other charities and organisations. FiMT continues the Fund’s long-standing legacy of support for veterans across the UK with an endowment of £35 million awarded in 2012. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.

The mission of FiMT is to enable ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, and it delivers this mission by generating an evidence base that influences and underpins policy making and service delivery.

FiMT awards grants (for both responsive and commissioned work) to support its change model around 6 outcomes in the following areas: Housing; Employment; Health and wellbeing; Finance; Criminal Justice System; and Relationships. All work is published in open access and hosted on the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre’s Veterans and Families Research Hub. A high standard of reportage is demanded of all grant holders so as to provide a credible evidence base from which better informed decisions can be made.

Useful links

Website: www.fim-trust.org

Reports: www.fim-trust.org/reports/

Who we have helped: www.fim-trust.org/who-we-have-helped/

Twitter: @FiMTrust

About the Mental Health Research Programme: www.fim-trust.org/mental-health/research-programme/

FiMT Working Together Award Finalists – Soldiering on Awards 2018

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) is delighted to announce the three finalists for their Working Together Award at the 2018 Soldiering on Awards.

The award, sponsored by FiMT, is in recognition of a person, team or organization that has demonstrated enduring commitment and collaborative approach to supporting the Armed Forces sector within the wider community.

This year’s finalists are; Nick Wood of York St John University, Cobseo Housing Cluster and Battling on CIC.

Ray Lock, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust said: “The Soldiering on Awards are a great way to acknowledge the achievements of those who serve in, and support, the Armed Forces Community.

“Forces in Mind Trust is exceptionally pleased with the high calibre of finalists for the Working Together Award. I would like to congratulate, and thank, all finalists for their commitment to supporting the Armed Forces and the collaboration they have championed across many sectors.”

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Note to Editor:  Ray Lock is available for interview. To arrange please contact Tina McKay, Communications Officer at FiMT on co@fim-trust.org or on 07956 101132 or 0207 901 8916

About the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT):

FiMT came about from a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (‘the Fund’), Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities) and other charities and organisations. FiMT continues the Fund’s long-standing legacy of support for veterans across the UK with an endowment of £35 million awarded in 2012. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.

The mission of FiMT is to enable ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, and it delivers this mission by generating an evidence base that influences and underpins policy making and service delivery.

FiMT awards grants (for both responsive and commissioned work) to support its change model around 6 outcomes in the following areas: Housing; Employment; Health and wellbeing; Finance; Criminal Justice System; and Relationships. All work is published in open access and hosted on the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre’s Veterans and Families Research Hub. A high standard of reportage is demanded of all grant holders so as to provide a credible evidence base from which better informed decisions can be made.

Useful links

Website: www.fim-trust.org

Reports: www.fim-trust.org/reports/

Who we have helped: www.fim-trust.org/who-we-have-helped/

Twitter: @FiMTrust

About the Mental Health Research Programme: www.fim-trust.org/mental-health/research-programme/