After spending another week calling and emailing charities and support groups for missing persons, I have still not managed to secure any interviews. I feel that at this stage it is important that my story progresses as it is proving to be more challenging than I had first considered to obtain a story for this project.
Therefore, I have gone back to the drawing board this week to start thinking of new ideas. After being unsuccessful with my first topic, I now know that I need to make sure that my next subject does not rely too heavily on the police force and doesn't have such profound ethical dilemmas, as I think this was one of the reasons that it was so difficult to get interviews.
I spent a lot of the week brainstorming different areas I could research, but it was a conversation with my best friend that finally gave me my new idea.
My boyfriend joined the British Army just over a year ago and ever since, the military has become a huge and important part of my life. My eyes have been opened to a whole world which I knew nothing about two years ago, and I'm now so much more aware of the struggles which military personnel face, both whilst they are serving, and after they leave.
British servicemen and women often struggle when adapting back into civilian life after leaving the forces, be it due to mental illness, re-location issues or having general feelings of loneliness or emptiness. These are problems which are rarely spoken about in the media, which is why I am keen to focus my project on this. I would like to explore what life is like after the military and what kinds of support are out there for those who need it as they adapt back into civilian life.
Now I have a new idea in place, I've spent the rest of the week researching the different kinds of support that are out there for ex-military personnel. After just a few searches on Google I've discovered that there are a whole range of charities and support groups offering all kinds of help to those who need it. I have now sent out emails to a number of different support networks and hope I'll be able to arrange some interviews soon.