The Veterans' Research Hub (VRH), set up by Anglia Ruskin University's Veterans and Families Institute and jointly funded by the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) and Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC, will collate all research on issues facing the military, veterans and their families.
The VRH was set up following recommendations by Lord Ashcroft in his Veterans' Transition Review, published in February. The VRH aims to inform Government policy to ensure the best possible care for military veterans.
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC, Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, said: "It is widely – but quite wrongly – supposed that veterans are unusually likely to become homeless, to go to prison, to suffer from mental illness or to commit suicide. Employers too often doubt that service leavers will be able to adapt to a civilian working environment.
“The problem is not lack of information; if only it were. The problem is an abundance of information, much of it inaccurate or misleading, supplemented by assumptions about former service personnel that are half-baked, outdated or simply wrong.
“The antidote to this is good information, available from a reliable source. That is what we are launching today. The Veterans Research Hub will identify and house high-quality, peer-reviewed research. We intend that it should become the recognised home of authoritative information on veterans’ issues.”
Professor Michael Thorne, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, added: "As well as stimulating and facilitating collaboration, we envisage that the Veterans Research Hub will enable researchers, policy makers, journalists, veterans and serving personnel and their families, together with the general public, to access up to date, informative and above all accurate research in this expanding field."
Chairman of The Forces in Mind Trust, Air Vice-Marshal Tony Stables said: "FiMT’s early work indicated a very real need for a sound evidence base, not least because many of the issues surrounding veterans were based on anecdotal or emotive evidence. One of the four business strands, on which FiMT’s endowment from the Big Lottery Fund was awarded, was the creation of a ‘Veterans Research Foundation’. We are delighted to join with Lord Ashcroft and Anglia Ruskin University in this exciting project."
Anglia Ruskin's Veterans and Families Institute was launched in April and aims to produce and publish world-class research, influence the delivery of national policy and to work collaboratively across disciplines and institutions.
Image: Ray Lock, Lord Ashcroft, Jamie Hacker Hughes, Matt Fossey, Michael Thorne
The Forces in Mind Trust (FIMT) came about from a partnership between the Big Lottery Fund (BIG), Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities) and other charities and organisations. FiMT continues BIG’s long-standing legacy of support for veterans across the UK with an endowment of £35 million awarded in 2012. Since 2004, BIG has given more than £88 million to programmes supporting veterans. Visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor on Veterans’ Transition and conducted a review into every aspect of the process that was handed to the Government on February 11 2014. The review can be found at www.veteranstransition.co.uk. As well as being the Chancellor of ARU, Lord Ashcroft is a Tory peer, international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster.
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For more press information please contact:
Jon Green on t: 0845 196 4717, e: jon.green@anglia.ac.uk
Jamie Forsyth on t: 0845 196 4716, e: jamie.forsyth@anglia.ac.uk
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