Plymouth veteran sees Christmas art become clothing design
Nick Martin is raising money for Help for Heroes through his Festive Deer t-shirt
A Plymouth military veteran who uses art as a recovery tool for his mental health wounds is seeing one of his designs on sale for the second Christmas running.
It's the second year in a row that one of Nick Martin's designs have been chosen to feature on a t-shirt to be sold by the charity.
Last year, his Christmas Tree design turned out to be a best seller and sold out in the run up to Christmas.
This time, his Festive Deer adorns a women's t-shirt and funds raised from the sale of the merchandise will enable the charity to support other wounded and sick veterans and their families.
Veteran Nick, 64, was a stores accountant with the Royal Navy and spent most of his time at sea. He saw action in the Falklands Campaign and was on the Atlantic Conveyor when she was hit.
Having struggled with post-traumatic stress since that time, he approached Help for Heroes for support just four years ago, before which he tried to cope alone.
"I think art in my recovery has given me confidence and that's why I really got involved with Help for Heroes in the first place. I've lived with a total lack of confidence for the last four decades and absolutely no self-esteem.
"So when I began showing people some of the art work that I'd done, their reactions were so positive that it's just encouraged me to do more and actually put my stuff out there on social media for other people to comment on."
Nick Martin - Royal Navy Veteran
This year Help for Heroes has seen a 33% increase in those coming forward for mental health support and a 30% increase in referrals to veterans' clinical services.
However, they are predicting a 30% reduction in regular income in coming years due to economic recession and has had to undertake a restructure to keep the promise it made on behalf of the nation 13 years ago to be there for our wounded veterans for life.