Researchers, service deliverers, members of the Armed Forces community and all those with an interest in the mental health of veterans and their families can sign up to receive a biannual update on Forces in Mind Trust’s Mental Health Research Programme (MHRP), which launched in October 2015 with an annual disbursement of £1 million for up to five years.

The MHRP, established by Forces in Mind Trust in collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health and the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, part of King’s College London, aims to deliver high-quality research into the mental health of UK ex-Service personnel and their families to help support a more successful transition into civilian life by building a sound evidence base from which policy makers and service deliverers can make informed decisions.

The newsletter will keep you up to date with latest funding opportunities, new and ongoing projects awarded through the Programme, report launches for completed projects, related events, and other interesting items.

To sign up to receive these updates, visit: http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pages/category/veterans

In the inaugural newsletter, read about the first ‘Highlight Notice’ to be issued under the MHRP, or apply to take part in the Programme’s first Focus Group. The Highlight Notice, which closes on Friday 26th August, seeks to encourage applications that propose innovative ways to understand and address substance misuse and addiction, including alcohol, legal and illegal drug use, and its impact on former UK Armed Forces personnel and their families.  The Focus Group, to be held on 27th September in central London, aims to understand the views of UK veteran service users with lived experience of mental health issues, in order to help inform the MHRP’s research priorities which are reviewed annually.  Apply by Friday 19th August if you wish to participate (note that numbers are limited).  Successful applicants will be notified on Friday 26th August.

Read the inaugural newsletter here: http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=60c1b1ba2c1557649e61daa9a&id=d868a873be&e=[UNIQID]

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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 Veterans’ 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