Riverside and the University of York are involved in the No Homeless Veterans Roadmap (NHVR) research project, which is entering the interviews stage. The project team would really appreciate your help in finding potential interview participants for this research from your contacts and services, noting that there are specific veterans whose lived experiences are particularly being sought as outlined below.
Diversity within the overall sample is crucial. The study seeks to include:
- A third of sample to be female veterans.
- At least 10% of sample from minority ethnic groups.
- Different household status (including families, couple and single people).
- Some LGBTQ+ people.
- Mix of ages.
The researchers will monitor the demographics of interviewees so that they can further target respondents in the research if some groups are not being recruited. They are also mindful to involve a range of accommodation providers/housing destinations and to incorporate different service arms (army, navy, air force) and geographical perspectives, including veterans from the devolved nations.
Who are we looking for to participate in the research?
1) Recent ex-service leavers – who left service within the LAST TWO YEARS
- Families with children who are renting property (either social housing or private rented sector).
- Single veterans – any housing status.
- Female veterans in any type of relationship who are living in any type of housing or who may be homeless.
- Veterans who have experienced immediate discharge – any type of discharge with 28 days notice to vacate, and are living in any type of housing or who may be homeless.
- Foreign & Commonwealth veterans currently settled in the UK who have successfully applied for leave to remain.
2) Ex-service personnel who left service MORE THAN 2 YEARS AGO.
- Previously homeless people – having experienced at least one episode of homelessness since leaving the armed forces and are currently living in permanent housing.
There are target quotas within each of these groups and therefore the researchers reserve the right to be selective in accordance with the sampling frame.
What does being a participant mean?
Potential veteran participants will be invited to take part in an interview with one of the research team. Participation is totally voluntary.
- Interviews will cover a range of topics related to participant’s housing experiences on leaving the forces (and any preparation for this prior to leaving).
- The interviews are anticipated to last approximately 60 minutes.
- Most interviews will take place remotely either through a video conferencing software (such as Zoom, Skype, google meet, Microsoft Teams etc) chosen by the participant or on the phone. In a small number of cases where remote interviews are not appropriate, we may be able to arrange for a face-to-face interview depending on location and any travel restrictions in place at the time.
- Each participant will receive a £30 shopping voucher for taking part.
What would we like you to do?
If you know of veterans who meet the criteria above and who you think would be willing to participate, please share the Participation Information sheet with them. They can then contact Lisa O’Malley directly, or you can collate their details and send this to Lisa on their behalf. It is important that potential interviewees have read the participation information and agreed in principle to participate before making contact with Lisa. She will then send them a consent form to complete and work through the interview date/times/channels, should they meet the sampling selection criteria.
