News & Policy

A new study has revealed that ex-Service personnel with physical and mental health problems are struggling to navigate a “baffling” benefits system and should not incur sanctions.

TimeBank, a national volunteering charity, has been awarded funds of £143,281 by the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), to develop, pilot and evaluate an on-line mentoring platform for ex-Service personnel who have been affected by mental health and wellbeing problems in Scotland.

Research undertaken by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), released today, to assess how engagement with, and by, families works during the process of transition back into civilian life and where it could be improved, highlights the need for more accessible and inclusive support.

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has awarded funds of £83,162 to King’s College London (King’s) to investigate the increase in PTSD among ex-Service personnel who deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) has awarded funds of £318,114 to King’s College London (King’s), to undertake a small-scale randomised control trial of a treatment for ex-Service personnel with PTSD.

From January 2018 to July 2018, the sector contracted by 4.5%.

FiMT has awarded £149,625 to the University of Central Lancashire, in partnership with the University of Salford, to undertake a two-year research project to understand the transition to civilian life for ex-Service personnel with physical conditions as a direct result of Service.

The fifth Veterans’ Mental Health Conference takes place at King’s College London today.

“At Forces in Mind Trust, we agree from an evidence-based perspective with the Royal British Legion’s call for more to be done to counter the financial difficulty some Commonwealth ex-Service personnel encounter upon leaving the UK’s Armed Forces.

A mental health toolkit, MIND Fitness, specifically designed for ex-Service personnel, is to be developed thanks to funding from the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT).