Armed Forces Community Research

Your participation is important

We are asking all serving personnel, reservists, ex-service personnel and partners to take part by completing this questionnaire.

This questionnaire asks ‘What are the strengths and needs of the Armed Forces and ex-services community in Kent and Medway?’ and aims to find out about your experiences living and working in Kent or Medway. We recognise that the Armed Forces and ex-services community in Kent & Medway is a large and important one, so we are interested in finding out about those issues that are most important to you. We need better information about your experiences and the issues you face and will be asking you about your time in the military and/or after you have left and returned to civilian life. Your views will help determine decisions made in the future for Kent.

Your direct involvement will help shape the delivery of outcomes making sure they are relevant for the Armed Forces community of Kent & Medway. The results of this independent research will form a suggested list of priorities for the Kent & Medway Civilian Military Partnership Board to support available services and networks bringing benefit to the Armed Forces community now, and in the future.

Taking part involves completing an electronic questionnaire which asks about your military background, health and family. If you are a reservist, ex-service personnel or partner there are some questions about your employment and experiences in civilian life.

The questionnaire should take no more than 20 minutes to complete, but may take less as not all sections may be relevant to you. Participation is voluntary, and you are under no obligation to take part. We do need to hear from as many people as possible to ensure our results are valid, so please do spread the word, your participation counts.

The research is completely anonymised and will be handled in the strictest of confidence. Your personal information will be stored securely and accessed only by the research team. You may not wish to tell us your postcode however it would really help us determine where services or support needs should be focused in Kent. Your contact details will not be passed on to a third party. Research data will not be shared with any third party unless fully anonymised and will never be released if it contains any information that may identify you.

We hope that you will complete the questionnaire and thank you for your help in advance. The closing date for completion is July 31st 2015. The overall findings and results of the research will be published in 2016. Records will be held anonymised on our secure system of which you have the right of access to your records at any time.

If you have any questions or concerns about this research please do not hesitate to contact us on 03000 415966 or email us at jayne.collier-smith@kent.gov.uk

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO PARTICIPATE

Councilor Leyland Ridings Brigadier Andrew HughesChair of KMCP board and 11 Infantry Brigade

KCC Armed Forces Champion British Armed Forces