Ex Servicemen and Women Helpline Vital

Nearly 1 in 5 calls made to helpline are from the East Midlands.

Capital's been told its VITAL that a 24/7 helpline for ex-servicemen and women stays open - once the pilot finishes next month.

"as far as I'm aware there are no other helplines which are running 24/7; people having nightmares in the middle of the night would have nowhere to call, families whose sons or daughters who come back from conflict would have nowhere to ring for support or advice"

Mark Smith's the helpline manager for Combat Stress - a national service based in Nottingham. In less than a year they've had more than 5 thousand calls from veterans - and nearly a FIFTH of those are people from the East Midlands

The callers vary in age - some as young as teenagers back from serving time abroad, but also world war two veterans.