Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) and the Directory of Social Change (DSC) today (3 October) release the report Focus On: Armed Forces Charities’ Education and Employment Provision, which reveals that a small number of charities provide a much-needed range of educational and employment services to 35,800 people in the Armed Forces Community.

Funded by the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), this report is the second of six Focus On reports from DSC which provide more detailed information on Armed Forces charities’ support for key areas of need.

Figures presented in the report illustrate that a large need is being met by a relatively small number of charities. Armed Forces charities supported at least 22,302 individuals into employment and helped over 3,300 individuals gain qualifications in the past year, most commonly for veterans and their dependants.

The analysis shows that 78 charities provide education support, which represents 6.5% of all UK armed forces charities. Of these charities, 59 also make provision for employment. In total, armed force charities spend around £25.6m on education and employment, serving at least 35,800 beneficiaries from the Armed Forces Community.

Educational and employment services covered in the report include: vocational courses; academic qualifications; work opportunities; and mentoring such as CV writing and job searches. Direct grants to individuals and organisations are explored, along with partnerships and collaborations between charities and businesses. The report highlights specialist primary provider charities and shows depth of provision, which can have a dramatic and positive effect on an individual’s chance of successful transition to civilian life.

Project Manager, Stuart Cole says: ‘The impact that education and employment can have is measured in more than just qualifications or status; increasingly, these areas define our quality of life. We are proud to present an analysis of those charities which support the educational and employment needs of the armed forces community.’

Ray Lock CBE, Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust says: “FiMT was established to enable ex-Service personnel and their families to make a successful and sustainable transition to civilian life. It does this by funding reports, such as this Focus On series which provides independent, evidence-based knowledge that can be used to influence and bring about change where needed, from policy through to service delivery. The clearly detailed evidence in this report offers an important and unique insight into the education and employment support provided by the Armed Forces charity sector across the UK.”

You can read the full report here www.dsc.org.uk/education-employment

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Notes to Editor:

Stuart Cole, is available for comment at scole@dsc.org.uk To arrange an interview please contact DSC on 0151 708 0136

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.

The Project

To download all four DSC reports and to learn more about DSC’s armed forces charities research project, visit www.dsc.org.uk/research. To search DSC’s free to use online database of almost 1,200 charities, visit www.armedforcescharities.org.uk.

DSC

Founded in 1974, the Directory of Social Change (DSC) is a national charity which champions an independent voluntary sector through campaigning, training and publications. DSC is the largest supplier of information and training to the voluntary sector, and its work helps tens of thousands of organisations every year achieve their aims. Learn more at www.dsc.org.uk

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/