I'm inspired by the work of Poppyscotland and have seen much of the great work that they do.

They are currently also in the process of helping me personally.

I have been struggling physically and mentally for some time.
I was too ashamed and embarrassed to admit I was struggling mentally. Seeing images of the war In Ukraine sparked something in my head which I thought I had dealt with and boxed away years ago.

Memories of Bosnia and other events sprung to the fore as if it was yesterday.
I felt ashamed and embarrassed that I was feeling so weak and stepped back from many things I enjoyed doing.

I would sit through the night crying to myself and feeling totally inadequate, I would hit the bottle more than I should.
It all came to a head when in a state of panic I eventually found the courage to call Poppyscotland and admit I was struggling.
I told the gentleman on the phone I was struggling and needed help.
Saying those words caused me to burst into tears, totally ashamed.
The gentleman was so reassuring and said a colleague who would help would be in touch.
10 minutes later I received a call from a lady in the Poppyscotland welfare team who was fantastic and reassured me again.

We are currently at the start of our journey but after years of struggling and hiding it from everyone, it feels like a massive weight has been lifted and I am no longer ashamed to speak openly about my struggles.

This is all down to the fantastic team at Poppyscotland.

I would like to give a little payback which is why I'm taking on this challenge to raise a much as possible to help the people at Poppyscotland carry on with their vital work.

Please help me help them by giving whatever you can using the 'Donate' button. The more people that know about Poppyscotland, the greater their impact, so please also spread the word by sharing my page with your friends and family. Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot! Alan Mclelland