Since our last update we’ve been making good progress in the FiMT Research Centre. Here are just some of the recent developments:
FiMT Research Centre Professor
We’re delighted to welcome Dr Michael Almond to the post of Professor of Veterans & Families Studies in the FiMT Research Centre. Mike, who is a former NHS consultant, takes up his role in October following a period of deployment to South Sudan with the RAF Reserves.
Veterans & Families Research Hub
The Hub has been visited more than 10,000 times to date, predominantly from the UK (53%) and the US (39%), and has 169 registered users including several from overseas. Analytics show a steady growth of visits and users over the last four months in response to increased publicity and user sharing. We are constantly updating the Hub with papers, news items and blogs; if you have anything that you’d like us to include, please register at www.vfrhub.com and share it with us, or e-mail us at contact@vfrhub.com. You can also contribute to our forums https://www.vfrhub.com/forum/; recent threads include wellbeing and transition, and culture and mental health. We are also building a map of research institutes https://www.vfrhub.com/research-locations/ to help users find suitable research partners or sources of expertise.
Research Snapshots
The FiMT RC is producing a variety of plain language research syntheses called Snapshots. The first of these, which was produced in collaboration with The University of York’s Centre for Housing Policy, is on the topic of housing – find it at https://www.vfrhub.com/housing-accommodation-summary/. Work is currently in progress on an employment-themed Snapshot, which will be produced by the FiMT Research Centre in consultation with FiMT, the Cobseo Employment Cluster and The Royal British Legion, and further Snapshots will follow on a wide variety of relevant topics.
Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre Conference 2018: Evidence and Policy for Veterans and their Families
The inaugural FiMT RC Conference, sponsored by Lord Ashcroft, is being held on 11 October 2018 at Church House in Westminster. The conference will focus on research into veterans and their families from the perspectives of academics, policy makers and service providers, and will cover the processes, challenges, benefits and impact of research, highlighting opportunities for research funding and collaboration during four concise sessions. There will be plenty of scope for networking, questions and discussion. Speakers include Lord Ashcroft PC KCMG, Tobias Ellwood (Minister for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel), Hans Pung (Chair, RAND Europe), Professor Mike Thomas (Vice Chancellor, UCLAN) and Air Vice-Marshal Ray Lock CBE (Chief Executive, Forces in Mind Trust).
You can find more information about the conference at https://www.vfrhub.com/event/forces-mind-trust-research-conference/.
Tickets cost £50 per delegate and as of today there are only 26 tickets remaining.
To book, please go to https://store.anglia.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/conferences-events/conference-events/fimt-research-centre-conference.
