New platform maps charity support for the Armed Forces community

A new data platform has used anonymised data from charities to map how and where the Armed Forces community interact with support services providing a clearer insight into who is seeking support and what support they need.

The MONARCH (Map of Need Aggregated Research) project, led by Northumbria University and funded by Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) and the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, is a first of its kind database that is now available to charities, policymakers and the public. Previously it was difficult to develop a clear picture of who was contacting Armed Forces charities for support and why individuals often seek support from multiple charities who use different systems to record and manage their data.

MONARCH has helped demonstrate how unifying data from charities can help provide greater insight.

Through advanced data techniques MONARCH securely anonymises individuals whilst minimising the chance that they are counted multiple times when they have been supported by multiple organisations.

The result is a clearer picture of where, how many, and who in the Armed Forces community is seeking support from charities in the UK. The platform is fully interactive, allowing users to filter data by demographics, military service and specific need. Geospatial filters cover country, region, local government area, NHS and Integrated Care Board areas, so the same dataset can serve national strategists and local planners.

Professor Matt Kiernan, Director of Northern Hub for Veteran and Military Families’ Research at Northumbria University, said: "Developed by the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families' Research at Northumbria University, MONARCH gives the first ever clear picture of how veterans are using the services provided by the Armed Forces Charity sector, and the needs that those organisations are addressing.

"MONARCH is the first project to address the data problem of double counting caused by the almonisation of services across multiple providers within the Armed Forces Charity Sector. It offers a methodological solution to the double counting that has long distorted the picture of service usage and need, and it is the first platform in the armed forces sector to report accurately on how service users use charity services, what needs they use them for, and where in the country they access them. It is also the largest aggregated dataset ever produced in the sector, and the most comprehensive source to date on service usage, showing what is delivered, to which demographic groups, and in which parts of the country.”

An initial evaluation found that users valued the ability to bring information from different sources together and explore it by location. It also identified improvements needed to make the platform easier to use and its findings easier to interpret.

Anna Wright, CEO of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust – one of the funders of MONARCH’s development - said: “This tool is completely unique, responding to a huge gap in national data around the needs of the veteran population. Until this tool, it simply wasn't possible to get a sense of the scale and type of charity support being sought and received by veterans in different parts of the country, and to look at how those patterns change over time – it's an important addition to the picture for those working to support the armed forces community.”

Michelle Alston, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust, said: “Charities hold valuable evidence about the people they support but bringing that evidence together has been difficult due to the complexity and size of the Armed Forces landscape. MONARCH shows what collaboration can make possible. It provides a greater insight on where support is needed and has helped encourage an important conversation about data quality for the Armed Forces community. We are immensely grateful to the charities that have contributed their data to this project to make it possible.”

The accompanying reports to the project highlight the methods used, how records can be linked whilst protecting identities, how the combined data can reveal patterns and examine the factors associated with former Service personnel seeking help. To find out more and how you can access the platform please visit the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families.