A national charity which supports veterans to recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and find new purpose in life is calling for a big donation boost to help them continue their work in 2023.

Veterans in Action (VIA) is a team of ex-service personnel which works to help fellow veterans adjust to life after the armed forces.

The charity is the brainchild of former Royal Engineer Billy Macleod MBE, who suffered from mental health issues on leaving the military due to an injury sustained in the course of duty. Having found a way through his PTSD, Billy saw how this condition affects veterans around the world. He realised he could do something to help others who had served in HM Armed Forces and who were struggling to deal with the effects of war – or who had found the transition to civilian life difficult.

VIA, like many small charities, is funded by largely private donations as well as a number of commercial activities. Recently, VIA had been extremely close to securing a major funding partner to ensure their future, but changes in the economy meant the late withdrawal of their would-be benefactor and the charity is now looking for a vital injection of funding to ensure that their work will continue throughout 2023 and beyond.

Billy Macleod commented: “Veterans In Action is primarily an expeditionary organisation, but we have an inbuilt sense of service to whoever needs it. When Covid-19 struck we used our vehicles to deliver essential supplies to the most vulnerable in Hampshire and, in the last year, we have put our efforts into running relief convoys of much needed aid and supplies to the Ukraine.

“We were a long way down the line with what we thought would be a funding deal to allow us to continue and even expand our operations, so this is a blow – but we are nothing if not resourceful.”

This resourcefulness is evidenced by Billy’s MacLeod’s initial fundraising efforts, which involved him and teams of volunteers walking from John O Groats to Lands End and then around the entire UK coastline, as well as various walks from East to West Coast – clocking up more than 13,000 miles walked in total. 

For more information about Veterans in Action, visit: veteransinaction.org.uk.