Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), together with the Officers’ Association has today (1 March) released a new report, which provides a definitive demographic profile of the serving and ex-officer community.
The Report states that there are over 26,820 serving UK officers, and an estimated 371,600 veteran officers in Great Britain, including 19,200 over ninety years of age.
The Report projects that the number of veteran officers will fall by 55% in the next 20 years, because of the decreasing number of World War Two veterans. It is estimated that there are over 116,000 officers with long-term illnesses which significantly limit their ability to undertake day-to-day activities and over 27,000 with dementia. It also identified the likely changes to the population: a higher predicted turnover of officers, leaving the Services at a younger age; and more women as well as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) officers are expected to serve in the future.
Another challenge is the mind set of officers, who self-identified as ‘a proud community’ and tend to apply for help only when their problems are acute. Some interviewees acknowledged that officers (and their spouses) were more reluctant to ask for help than others, due to the culture and expectation of self-resilience. This could mean that when they did finally ask for help, their needs were greater and more complex.
The Report was commissioned to help understand the size, nature and needs of present and future officer communities. The Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) awarded £43,149 to the Officers’ Association, the charity supporting the welfare of those who have held a commission in HM Armed Services and their dependants. The six month study was conducted by the Institute of Public Care at Oxford-Brookes University, and project-managed by Mazia Yassim, Research Associate at the Officers’ Association. The project used a number of techniques to build a picture of the officer community, including interviews, focus groups and including using data from the Ministry of Defence and other sources, holding focus groups with current and ex-serving officers, as well as interviews with Service charities.
Ray Lock CBE, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust, says: “Improving our understanding of the profile of the current and ex-serving officer community is an important piece of work. Without a proper knowledge of the size and needs of the officers’ community, and a forecast of how that might change, the sector cannot understand how best to support them and their families in leading successful and fulfilled civilian lives. We welcome the findings of this report, which concludes that serving and ex-serving officers can suffer increased barriers to help-seeking, but overall their needs are really no different to those of the general ex-serving population. What this report challenges us to identify, as the sector plans for the years ahead, is the optimum way in which we can deliver the necessary support, whether it be welfare or other types.”
Lee Holloway, CEO of the Officers’ Association, said: “The findings of this report are important as they give us a clear insight into the future demographics and needs of our officer community and their families. We believe the report will be a valuable tool to other charities, the MOD and health and social services in providing help.
“For the OA, the report gives the empirical data to help us plan for the future, to ensure the officer community is not disadvantaged as demographic and institutional changes take place.
“It challenges us to reach out to all serving and former officers, to make them aware of how we can support them, now and in the years ahead.”
ENDS
Ray Lock is available for interviews. To arrange an interview please contact Kate Turner at kturner@theproffice.com or on 07919 887 036 or 0207 284 6944.
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
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 Officers’ Association:
The Officers’ Association (OA) is an independent charity established in 1920 in recognition of the desperate circumstances many officers found themselves in following demobilisation after the First World War.
The purpose of the OA is to provide financial assistance to former officers and their dependants as well to aid, assist and promote their interests. Assistance often takes the form of advice, and the Benevolence Department aims to provide an holistic service for its beneficiaries covering finances, housing, health, activities, social life and well being. When financial support is required, it is subject to stringent and regularly reviewed eligibility criteria and generally takes one of two forms: regular allowances (predominantly for elderly beneficiaries on low incomes) or one-off grants towards specific items such as disability equipment.
A further aim of the OA has always been to re-establish former officers in civilian life: the Employment Department now performs this function by offering professional, impartial and practical advice on all aspects of transition to civilian life and employment. To support officers in achieving sustainable and fulfilling employment beyond the services, the OA helps them to build knowledge (OA Insight), develop connections (OA Connect) and works with employers and organisations to bring jobs and other opportunities (OA Appointments).
The OA is enormously grateful to the hundreds of volunteers who support its operations: the Honorary Representatives (Hon Reps) who carry out work for the Benevolence Department and the Employment Volunteers on the OA’s Network Contact List who give vital support to job seekers.
Further details about the OA’s work can be found in its Annual Report and Accounts and Impact Report and at https://www.officersassociation.org.uk.
Visit www.officersassociation.org.uk for further information on the OA.
For Further Press Information and Images please contact: Andrea Hodson, Marketing Manager
The Officers’ Association, Tel: 020 7808 4160, Mob: 07500 004987 A.Hodson@officersassociation.org.uk
