Following the great success of the inaugural ‘Veterans’ Mental Health – Fact, Fiction and Future’ conference of March 2015, this follow on one-day event takes place on 10th March 2016, hosted by the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, under the sole sponsorship of the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT).

Mental Health is a well-known but frequently misunderstood topic in the national and international media, with often anecdotal evidence being given precedence over research, evidence or fact.

The aim of the conference is to focus on how best to improve services for Veterans and Service Families and will include presenters with world-class reputation from King’s College London and other leading UK institutions.

Speakers include:
• Kate Davies OBE, Head of Public Health, Armed Forces Health and Offender Health, NHS England
• Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Professor Neil Greenberg, Professor of Defence Mental Health, King’s College London
• Professor Edgar Jones, Professor in the History of Medicine and Psychiatry, King’s College London
• Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Ridgway, Chairman of Cobseo
• Air Vice-Marshal Ray Lock, Chief Executive, Forces in Mind Trust

Ray Lock, Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust, said: “There is much misinformation surrounding the subject of mental health, and particularly around the mental health of veterans. Amongst the founding priorities of the Trust are ‘to promote better mental health and well-being’ and ‘to build organizations’ capacity to deliver evidence-based prevention and rehabilitation’. These priorities represent key aspects of our ultimate aim, which is to enable ex-Service personnel and their families lead successful civilian lives. We are therefore very proud to sponsor such a relevant and prestigious conference.”

The event takes place between 9.00am-5.15pm (followed by a networking reception) in The Great Hall, King’s College London, Strand Campus, WC2R 2LS. The standard fee to attend the event is £99 and includes all refreshments, lunch, drinks, canapé reception, free WiFi and a certificate of attendance.

Booking is available via the King’s College London’s e-store:
http://estore.kcl.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&catid=131&prodid=555

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Notes to Editors
For more information, please contact: Talia Cohen at The PR Office on tcohen@theproffice.com / direct dial: 0207 284 6957

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. Since 2004 the Fund has given more than £88 million to programmes supporting veterans: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.

• The aim of the FiMT is to provide an evidence base which will influence and underpin policy making and service delivery in order to enable ex-Service personnel and their families to lead successful civilian lives.

• FiMT awards grants (both reactive and proactive) and commissions research along three key themes: Evidence, Innovation and Collaboration. All work is published to a high standard of reportage to add to the evidence base from which better informed decisions can be made. Read more about those FiMT have helped and reports they have published at the links below:

• Useful links
o Website: www.fim-trust.org
o Mental Health Research Programme: https://www.fim-trust.org/mental-health/research-programme/
o Reports: https://www.fim-trust.org/reports/
o Who we have helped: www.fim-trust.org/who-we-have-helped/
o Twitter: www.twitter.com/FIMtrust