The 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. The first stage will focus on assessing how engagement with, and by, families works, and where it could be improved. The findings from this first phase will include recommendations for a pilot project. The proposed pilot study would be the second phase.

BIT will use in-depth qualitative research to understand the behaviours involved in the process of transitioning from the Armed Forces. It will look for solutions and ideas to support the families of Service personnel.

Ray Lock Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust said: “Forces in Mind Trust was created to enable ex-Service personnel and their families achieve a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life. Engagement is really important. This is the first project we have funded with BIT and we are excited to see how their innovative and insightful approach could be used to benefit families by improving engagement, both during their time as a Service family and especially as they approach transition.”

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 Note to Editor:  Ray Lock is available for interview. To arrange please contact Tina McKay, Communications Officer at FiMT on co@fim-trust.org or on 07956 101132 or 0207 901 8916

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. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.

The mission of FiMT is to enable ex-Service personnel and their families make a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life, and it delivers this mission by generating an evidence base that influences and underpins policy making and service delivery.

FiMT awards grants (for both responsive and commissioned work) to support its change model around 6 outcomes in the following areas: Housing; Employment; Health and wellbeing; Finance; Criminal Justice System; and Relationships. All work is published in open access and hosted on the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre’s Veterans and Families Research Hub. A high standard of reportage is demanded of all grant holders so as to provide a credible evidence base from which better informed decisions can be made.

Useful links

Website: www.fim-trust.org

Reports: www.fim-trust.org/reports/

Who we have helped: www.fim-trust.org/who-we-have-helped/

Twitter: @FiMTrust

About the Mental Health Research Programme: www.fim-trust.org/mental-health/research-programme/

About the Behavioural Insights Team

The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is a social purpose company. BIT was mutualised in 2014 and is part owned by the Cabinet Office; Nesta (the innovation charity); and its employees.

BIT started life inside 10 Downing Street as the world’s first government institution dedicated to the application of behavioural sciences. Since its spin out from Government in 2014, BIT has expanded globally, with offices in New York, Sydney, Singapore and Wellington.

BIT works to:

  •     Make public services more cost-effective and easier for citizens to use;
  •     Improve outcomes by introducing a more realistic model of human behaviour to policy; and
  •     Wherever possible enable people to make better choices for themselves.

www.bi.team