Helping our forgotten heroes

However, this year, the number of troops dying in service hit a more grim record, rising to its highest in a decade.

And despite the growing public support, all too often veterans and their families feel they are forgotten by the country for which they pledged to sacrifice their lives.

One in five people in Scotland is either a veteran or a relative of one, with around one million in total across the country - from babies of soldiers killed in Iraq to Falklands survivors and still a few First World War widows.

Not all need help, but charities estimate that more than 150,000 do - and many of them have no idea where to turn.

As a result, they struggle with problems ranging from finding work to coping with disabilities or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Part of the problem stems from the fact that there is no official system in place to put veterans or their families in touch with the 30 or so voluntary groups for ex-servicemen and women in Scotland.

Jim Panton, chief executive of Poppyscotland, explained: "We rely on them coming to us or someone telling them about us because the MoD claims that it cannot pass on details because of data protection laws. It makes things challenging."

The MoD says that it is trying to become "more proactive" and, to that end, a scheme asking people when they leave the forces if they would consent to their details being passed to a charity is being given a trial.

But Mr Panton, himself an ex-serviceman, said that will not work either.

He added: "When you leave, unless you're being medically discharged, the majority of people feel confident and comfortable because in the armed forces any difficulty was taken care of for them and they have no idea what the likely challenges are going to be. So their response is Don't be ridiculous'. And 10, 20 or 30 years later when a veteran does get into difficulties their links with the MoD are understandably pretty thin."

While charities work to increase people's awareness of their existence, the bigger issue for many veterans is that they feel the MoD should be doing more to help.

In other countries, such as the US and Australia, governments fund the kind of work for which the Scottish public is expected to fork out.

With many veterans suffering the same problems as other people in society, such as homelessness, alcoholism and childcare problems, some question why ex-servicemen and women should receive special help.

Mr Panton has an answer for that. "When you join the armed forces you do it on the basis that you know you are giving up your civil rights, like your right to freedom of speech on the understanding that the repayment for giving up those rights is that you will be looked after for the rest of your life, whether you are still serving or not."

How much that repayment should be and in what form is also being argued, with an ongoing row about the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme which many have complained is totally inadequate - leading the MoD to launch a review which is due to end in the next few weeks.

Veterans suffering from PTSD are particularly vulnerable and angry over the lack of official support.

Clive Fairweather, head of fundraising at Combat Stress in Scotland, which runs stress treatment centre Hollybush House in Ayrshire, said: "The abiding reaction from people when they come here is relief that other people have the same problem and that at long last someone is going to help them, and then anger that they seem to have been forgotten by the Army, the government. A lot of people at Hollybush say, If it wasn't for this place, I wouldn't be here'. The suicide rate is massive."

The government does provide some money direct to charities, which is clearly welcomed. Yesterday also brought the announcement that the MoD is increasing its contributions for war pensioners at Hollybush from £180 to £260 a day.

And both the MoD and the Scottish Government say they are keen to work more closely with veterans in future.

They are beginning to do so through Veterans Scotland, an umbrella organisation for the Scottish charities which has helped co-ordinate their work in recent years.

But, as Mr Panton said, the problems needs action sooner rather than later, not just talk.

If last year's success, presumably fuelled by public outrage over the Iraq war, is anything to go by, this year's poppy appeal will be just as lucrative.

However, as it draws near, organisers are already turning their attention to a new problem which lies ahead. Like the veterans they are helping, the thousands of volunteers which Poppyscotland relies on to run the successful fundraiser are also getting older and dying.

Without them, there will be even greater need for governments to turn their words into acts.