Improving access to service charities for female veterans
To date, considerations of improving access to and quality of care for veterans often emphasise male perspectives. This may not reflect the needs of female veterans, nor anticipate the needs of the increasing numbers of female service personnel as they leave service. In the work reported here we aimed to investigate public and charitable sector (service and nonservice) perspectives on the challenges and enablers female veterans face in accessing service charities, to inform and prioritise recommendations for tangible improvements in access to veteran specific services for female veterans. We achieved this aim by conducting a literature review, followed by a qualitative research study. This qualitative study comprised profiling the evolution of conditions for military service for females in UK Armed Forces, 38 stakeholder interviews, and website analysis. Findings and recommendations were discussed with an expert panel and the Project Advisory Group, and disseminated to a range of stakeholders over the course of the project. This report presents the findings of this research, discusses them in the context of previous work, and makes recommendations for service provision, policy and research.
Abstract: This research set out to investigate the experiences of ‘grown up’ children from armed forces families, to gather their reflections on childhood and education, and to seek their advice to inform the current armed forces community, policy-makers and practitioners. The Service Children’s Progression Alliance (SCiP) defines a child from an armed forces family as “a person whose parent or carer serves in the Regular Armed Forces, or as a Reservist, or has done at any point during the first 25 years of that person’s life” (SCiP, 2017: para 2) and the Office for Students refers to this definition in their documentation relating to student characteristics (OfS n.d. para 8, see also OfS, 2020: para 11). In this research we use the term ‘grown up’ to indicate individuals over the age of 18 recognised to have reached the legal age of adulthood in the UK. This group of individuals are currently overlooked in research, policy and practice as the focus continues to be on serving members of the armed forces, veterans, and families, including school-aged children.