The Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), established to help ex-Service men and women make a successful transition back to civilian life, has appointed two new Directors to its Board: Professor Neil Greenberg, an academic and occupational psychiatrist within the Department of Psychological Medicine at King’s College London; and Andrew Barnett, Director of the UK Branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Professor Greenberg served in the Royal Navy for more than 23 years, during which time he deployed as a psychiatrist and researcher to a number of hostile environments, including Afghanistan and Iraq.  Since 1997, he has been at the forefront of developing peer-led traumatic stress support packages, has published more than 170 scientific papers, and has presented to national and international audiences on matters concerning the psychological health of the UK Armed Forces.  Professor Greenberg is also President of the UK Psychological Trauma Society and is the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Lead for Military and Veterans Health.

Andrew Barnett has been at the UK Branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation since 2007 and previously held the post of Director of Policy Development and Communications for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.  Prior to this he was Director of Communications at the UK Sports Council, and Head of Public Affairs at the National Consumer Council.

Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust, Air Vice-Marshal Ray Lock, said: “The appointment of Professor Greenberg and Andrew Barnett as Directors brings significant Board-level experience in mental health, research, foundation strategy and impact measurement to complement the tremendous breadth and depth of expertise already there.  It reflects our strategic move towards more proactive commissioning and further enhances our collaborative ethos, one which is underpinned by the importance we place on developing relationships and effective networks, reaching outwards well beyond the military charities community.”

– 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.