by Martin Jefferies

A military charity that helps ex-service personnel suffering with mental health problems is helping more than 130 people in Kent alone.

Combat Stress, which was set up in 1919, shortly after the First World War, provides a number of free services, including a 24-hour helpline, clinical treatment and a rehabilitation programme for those with post traumatic stress disorder.

Psychological conditions may not show up immediately after leaving the armed forces and on average, veterans wait 13 years before turning to the charity for help.

It means Combat Stress works with veterans of all ages. In Kent, the youngest is just 23, while the oldest is 89.

Neil Cox, a spokesman for the organisation, said: "Mental health is a very personal, private thing, and we find that a third of veterans are reluctant to tell their families just how they're feeling.

"When you're in a situation where you don't feel able to tell your loved ones what's wrong, admitting that to a GP, who's essentially a stranger, is something a lot of people won't want to do.

"We often find that when veterans seek our help, it's been an event such as an illness of a child, moving house or some sort of relationship breakdown which has triggered their mental health problems.

"In many cases, these problems have always been there, they've just been hidden under the surface."

John Bromley, the regional welfare officer for Combat Stress, will be speaking about the charity's work at an event at the Royal Engineers Museum, Gillingham, this evening.

Last year, the charity received more than 1,400 new referrals, including around 220 Afghanistan and 590 Iraq veterans.