A community group has raised nearly £3,000 for a military charity's Christmas campaign that will help armed forces personnel who are suffering with mental health issues.

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Helping Whittlesey donated £2,767 to the Veterans' Foundation thanks to the generosity of local businesses.

They sponsored the ‘poppy panels’ created by schoolchildren for Remembrance commemorations.

The groups’ donation is the first major step towards the foundation raising £10,000 as part of its new ‘light up a veteran’s life’ campaign.

It’s a Christmas initiative to help ex-service personnel dealing with conditions such as PTSD, anxiety and depression.

“Every bollard in town had a hat of poppies, it was fantastic,” said Karen Trickey, a member of the Helping Whittlesey team.

“We had 50,000 poppies made for our ‘poppy blitz’, knitted tommy soldiers in the garden of rest and one lady even created a quilt showing bombers flying over the cliffs of Dover.

“The response from the community has just been overwhelming.”

Helping Whittlesey’s donation will join others from the Veterans’ Foundation’s December quest to provide a light in the darkness for veterans who have suffered heightened levels of isolation and loneliness as a result of the pandemic.

“We wanted to make sure the donations went to help veterans as well as targeting mental health support locally, but it was difficult to find this in one package,” said Karen.

“We came across the Veterans’ Foundation and once we knew how they could use the money, they were the perfect fit.”

She added: “These are special people who have given their everything for us and their lives have changed completely.

“If our donation can help them a little bit, then that’s a massive achievement."

Veterans’ Foundation founder and CEO, David Shaw, paid tribute to Helping Whittlesey’s excellent work.

“The Helping Whittlesey team and the community did an incredible job with their ‘poppy blitz’", he said.

“To Karen and all the members of Helping Whittlesey, local businesses who sponsored the poppy blitz and the community who dug deep into their pockets – thank you.

“Your donation will make a real difference to veterans’ lives.”

To light up a candle on the armed forces memorial wall, visit the Veterans’ Foundation website.