Research Community

Alison Cotton is a final year PhD student at Oxford Brookes University.  Her research is around the educational attainment and Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) of children from UK Armed Forces families. Alison has used the National Pupil Database (NPD) for England to compare the GCSE outcomes and SEND rates and types between Service children and non-Service children. Prior to starting her PhD, Alison had a teaching career spanning 23 years with extensive experience of working with learners who have SEND. She is a qualified Specialist Teacher who holds Associate Membership of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA) and an Assessment Practising Certificate (APC).  Being from a military family herself, Alison hopes to use her knowledge and research to improve outcomes for Armed Forces families.

Bruce served nearly 27 years as a soldier and officer in the British Army, before becoming a leadership lecturer in Further Education for 2 years. Bruce is currently a Level 7 Senior Leader Development Coach and completing a Professional Doctorate in Education with the University of Portsmouth. He is a Chartered Companion of CMI, Fellow of the Institute of Leadership, Fellow of IoSCM, FIEDP, and Chartered MCIPD. His research interests are in how the military and Veterans can contribute to education post-service. Bruce has a provisional agreement for this research to help evidence towards the Office for Veterans' Affairs employment policies and the Education and Training Foundations future strategies.

The Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) Research Centre is an independent centre funded by Forces in Mind Trust and run by a consortium of RAND Europe and King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King’s College London. The centre provides an accessible and authoritative evidence base exploring the transition from military to civilian life, to inform policy and practice affecting ex-Service personnel and their families in the UK. It also functions as a community hub for the UK Armed Forces research community, connecting researchers, policy makers, and service providers, to support the forging of joined up working and collaboration, and build pathways to impact. This is achieved through various outputs, including but not limited to, a accessible online research repository, informative themed research and policy summaries and primary research exploring key themes impacting the UK ex-Service community. 

CEDAR is an Applied Psychological Practice Centre of Excellence, and one of the UK's largest providers of training in evidence-based psychological practice and therapies, working in the NHS and private practice. One of the research groups (APTIA) focuses on adapting low-intensity written and mobile phone app-based CBT interventions to improve access and effectiveness for diverse groups, such as Armed Forces Veterans, Muslims, Informal Caraers and people with various physical health conditions. 

Debra Barton is the Early Years Specialist Lead for the Ministry of Defence (MOD), based in Upavon in Wiltshire. As an Early Childhood professional with over 25 years’ experience, Debra aims to bridge the knowledge gap between the needs of young Service children, and early childhood education and childcare (ECEC). Debra provides leadership and subject matter expertise on all ECEC matters, relating to Service children aged from birth to 5 years old, wherever they are in the world. 

Debra is also a self-funded, part-time Ph.D student at the University of Worcester, and is researching the impact of Military deployment on the parenting of young Service Children, focusing on the Royal Navy/Marines in England.

Chris is a social worker lecturer and Army Veteran, whose research interests span her social work and Veteran identity. She is a member of the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research and has completed a PhD study, which explores the life stories of women Veterans who served between the 1940s to 2000s. Her military-focused research interests are military women, Veterans, LGBT+ and social work research linked to developing simulation pedagogies for pre and post-qualifying social workers.