Veteran charity unveils yurts for crisis camps

The yurts will accommodate veterans attending crisis camps

A charity has unveiled two yurts and a new garden as part of its efforts to help veterans in crisis.

Forgotten Veterans will use the yurts to house veterans who want to attend its crisis camps at their headquarters in Portsmouth.

The charity provides access to mental health and addiction services, or just a break for ex-service personnel.

Founder Gary Weaving said suicide was a "huge problem" in the veteran community.

The charity said its workload had trebled with 4,000 people coming through its camp at Fort Cumberland in the last year.

Mr Weaving said: "This service is so paramount because if someone rings in Birmingham at four o'clock in the night, we'll go tonight and we'll go and get them.

"And it will literally be the difference between the veteran taking their own life or not."

The charity says it helps veterans to rebuild their lives

The former Royal Engineer said the charity's unique method at looking at mental health involved therapy and professional life skills.

"We're about focusing for the future and moving on from the past, and helping them rebuild their lives one step at a time," he said.

Veteran Roy Edmundson, who struggled after losing his wife and suffering a stroke, said: "I'm beginning to live again and this is what these people have done for me.

"They saved my life because I know for a fact now I would have taken my own life if I had not met these people."

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].