A grant of £3,000 has been awarded to the Army Families Federation (AFF) by the Forces in Mind Trust, to hold a research symposium in partnership with King’s Centre for Military Research this November, at the Victory Services Club, London.

Following the success of the event in 2015, AFF had planned to hold a second symposium in June this year. However, due to the terrorist attack that took place around London Bridge the weekend before the symposium, the event was postponed.  Without additional funding, it would not have been possible to re-schedule the symposium for the foreseeable future.

The aim of the symposium remains to enable those researching the impact of service on Armed Forces families to ensure that they provide evidence that will be relevant and helpful, and can be used to influence changes in policy and service delivery.

Sara Baade, Chief Executive of AFF, said: “We are delighted that the AFF research conference can now go ahead, thanks to the support from FiMT. We’re an evidence-based charity that relies on the very latest unerring research to help support us, as we campaign for new policy directions and changes to better support Army families. The research conference is therefore a very important event on our annual calendar and we are very grateful for FiMT’s support in this.”

Ray Lock, Chief Executive of FiMT, said: “We know from our Families Engagement Programme, and the report we published in March 2015, that Service families can feel overlooked. Families form an integral component of successful transition for Service leavers moving back to civilian life. This symposium will give AFF the opportunity to provide a clear and credible voice for this particular group of the Armed Forces Community, which can be unheard.  We are delighted our modest award will now allow the symposium to take place following the terrible events of 3rd June.”

–ENDS

Notes to Editor

Ray Lock is available for interviews. To arrange an interview please contact Tina McKay at co@fim-trust.org or on 07956 101 132 or 020 7901 891

 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 will be hosted on the Veterans Research Hub at Anglia Ruskin University, which is going live in Autumn 2017. 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/

AFF

The Army Families Federation (AFF) is the independent voice of Army families and works hard to improve the quality of life for Army families around the world – on any aspect that is affected by Army life.

  • AFF is independent of the Army and is often pivotal in achieving improvements for Army families such as changes to Government and military policy and changes to how things are provided for families. For more information visit www.aff.org.uk
  • AFF’s operates by four core values which are pivotal to our work. These are:

– AFF always puts families first

– AFF can be trusted

– AFF is bold and determined

– AFF is inclusive

  • For more information about AFF, contact AFF Director of Communications and Marketing, Donna Bernard, commsmarketingdirector@aff.org.uk