The Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), established to help ex-Service men and women make a successful transition back to civilian life, and the Officers’ Association, providing lifetime support for Officers and their families, have co-funded an extensive upgrade to the Cobseo (the Confederation of Service Charities) website.

The upgraded website (www.cobseo.org.uk) will enable Cobseo to further develop its key role within the Armed Forces charity sector. As well as being optimised for mobile devices, there are now dedicated areas for Cobseo members, the Cobseo Executive, and Cobseo Cluster Groups. Enhanced functionality includes: resource libraries, key contact information, and forums, all promoting information sharing and collaboration within the Armed Forces charity sector and beyond.

Cobseo Director of Operations, Commander Debbie Whittingham said: “The funding from FiMT and the OA has enabled Cobseo to further enhance its capabilities and promote collaboration and networking inside and outside our sector.”

Chief Executive of the OA, Lee Holloway commented: “The OA is very pleased to have collaborated with FiMT and be involved with this interesting project. The new website reflects the core function of Cobseo’s drive for collaboration within the sector and I look forward to using the Executive and Cluster areas.”

Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust, Ray Lock, said: “FiMT’s work with Cobseo resonates with our core values and our strategic aim to enhance the effectiveness of the Armed Forces charity sector.  The funding partnership with the OA has worked extremely well, the website has a fantastic feel, and we look forward to using the interactive elements, particularly in our work leading the Research and Integrated Support Network clusters.”

– Ends –

Notes to Editors: For interview requests, photos or more information, please contact:

Alice Farrow at The PR Office on afarrow@theproffice.com  / mobile:  07788 540 924 / direct dial: 0207 284 6955.

 

  • About the Forces in Mind Trust: The Forces in Mind Trust 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.  Since 2004 the Fund has given more than £88 million to programmes supporting veterans. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.During its first two years, FiMT commissioned seminal research reports such as the Transition Mapping Study (TMS) which reviews how the entire transition process from military to civilian life works and how it is viewed by stakeholders and recent Service leavers.  The economic model developed for the report calculated the total cost of poor transition to the UK as a whole to be £113 million in 2012, whilst the report itself has been discussed across Whitehall and debated in the House of Lords.

 

 

  • About Cobseo The Confederation of Service Charities
    Cobseo consists of some 240 charities and organisations; it is a membership organisation representing, promoting and furthering the interests of the Armed Forces Community.  Charitable support is maximizedto this Community through co-operation, co-ordination, cohesion and where appropriate co-location of organisations working in the sector.The Cobseo Executive is made up of 18 organisations which meet to identify issues and concerns affecting the Armed Forces CommunityCobseo Cluster groups are working groups within Cobseo (including Housing, Research etc.) where organisations specialising in areas can raise issues, identify solutions and make recommendations for improvements and actions

    For further information, please visit:

    Website: www.cobseo.org.uk
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/COBSEO
    Email: enquiries@cobseo.org.uk

The new Cobseo website has been developed and built by Run Digital http://rundigital.co.uk/ ; hello@rundigital.co.uk

The website is linked to Cobseo’ s new CRM System, built and managed by Icaris,  http://www.icaris.co.uk/   ; support@icaris.co.uk