Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), which works to ensure all ex-Service personnel and their families successfully transition to civilian life, has appointed Amazon PR to provide strategic communications and influencing services following a competitive tender.
Established in 2012 with a £35 million endowment from the Big Lottery Fund, FiMT awards grants, commissions research and supports projects that deliver long-term solutions to the challenges faced by the Armed Forces Community.
Read moreForces 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.
Read moreForces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has awarded £179,848 to Queen’s University Belfast to conduct a three-year, UK-wide study of the experiences of ex-Service personnel who have had an adverse transition back into civilian life.
The research will cover all four nations of the UK, and will look specifically at those who have ended up homeless, in prison or under mental health supervision.
The project aims to build on current knowledge regarding ‘pathways to failure’, and will do this through undertaking qualitative research to include two case studies of voluntary sector support provision, one in Birmingham, the other in Glasgow, as well as conducting interviews with ex-Service personnel, support staff, and with family members of those who have experienced a ‘negative transition’.
Read moreForces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has awarded £174,737 to Shared Intelligence and NatCen, to research how organisations, excluding Local Authorities and Government departments, are delivering pledges under the Armed Forces Covenant in Great Britain.
The decision to commission this research came about from the impact of FiMT’s Our Community-Our Covenant report and the desire to understand delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant more widely. Shared Intelligence, in partnership with NatCen, were appointed to deliver this research following a competitive tender process.
Read moreA landmark report from Ulster University on veterans’ services in Northern Ireland has called for increased support for veterans and their families.
This is the second in a series of reports from the Northern Ireland Veterans Health and Wellbeing Study (NIVHWS) from Ulster University, which received £750,000 funding over four years from the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT).
The latest report outlines the findings of in-depth interviews with 20 service providers and 13 veteran-led focus groups, to establish more information about the current needs of this group and to help predict their future needs.
Read moreForces 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.
Read moreThe Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) is requesting Expressions of Interest for ‘The mental health needs of serving and ex-Service personnel: A review of the latest evidence and key stakeholder perspectives’.
FiMT wishes to commission a documented, systematic review of relevant high-quality literature on the current scientific environment and changes and gaps in evidence concerning the field of serving and ex-Service personnel’s (and their families’) mental health.
Read moreThe Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) has been awarded £131,307 by the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), to assess whether empirical insights from social and behavioural sciences can help Service leavers’ families benefit more from services that support transition from the Armed Forces.
The need for this project came from work around families which FiMT has been developing over the last couple of years, when problems with engagement have been highlighted.
This year-long project is the first phase of what will be a two-phase project.
Read moreThe Forces in Mind Trust has awarded a grant of £70,000 to the Community Self Build Agency (CSBA) to enable them to continue with their work helping veterans who have particularly struggled with housing and employment in the transition to civilian life.
After an initial pilot in Bristol seven years ago, the reach of the project, which aims to help disadvantaged veterans build their own homes and achieve lasting employment, has expanded across the South West and beyond. CSBA works to increase confidence and skills, so that a veteran completing a self-build project leaves with a significantly improved lifestyle and feels a valued part of the community.
Read moreThe Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has held two briefing events, the first in York on Thursday 16th and the second in Nottingham on Friday 17th November, which were attended by over 80 people. Attendees came from a wide range of sectors including the Armed Forces Community and Armed Forces charities as well as other key stakeholders and interested parties who work to support ex-Service personnel and their families.
The events, which were the last in a series of regional briefings in the existing format, were led by Chief Executive of FiMT, Air Vice-Marshal Ray Lock CBE, and supported by his executive team.
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