'There are still men and women out there who need help'
A former army reservist from York says former troops struggling with mental health after serving in Afghanistan need to be supported.
A former army reservist from York who served in Afghanistan says the mental health of army veterans needs to be highlighted.
It follows the collapse of the Afghanistan government to the Taliban after the withdrawal of troops.
Kerry Hutchinson is originally from York and was a reservist in Afghanistan: "It was certainly a life changing experience. I was called forward to help with stabilisation support and the capacity building of very shaky Afghan district government structures.
"I went off to somewhere called Musa Qala in Northern Helmand and at what point we were the most northern British army unit in our forward operating base north of Musa Qala.
"We were out on the ground; we were taking rounds and there were IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), but we were trying to deliver a safe and secure environment for the locals in our area".
Kerry says the military presence over the last 20 years in Afghanistan hasn't been in vain, despite concerns over rights and freedoms being rolled back: "Virtually everybody is asking 'were all the sacrifices that families made who lost loved ones, or who had loved ones who came back with life-changing injuries, worth it?'
"There's a lot of flak going around at the moment. Personally, what I would say is that these sacrifices were perhaps not in vain. The 20 years we were there brought stability and some opportunity to Afghan society - especially girls and women; they had no education under the Taliban.
"In the last 20 years girls and women got education to varying degrees - mostly in the cities. We gave them a look at a better way of life and 20 years of freedom from Taliban oppression.
"We also ensured that there was no further international terrorist attacks mounted from Afghanistan during those 20 years. Those are achievements that I think we can be proud of".
The work of charities such as Combat Stress is being highlighted as important routes for former veterans to seek help if they're struggling.
Mr Hutchinson says the importance of such organisations has never decreased: "If you look around the streets of York and other cities you'll sometimes see a homeless veteran begging.
"I don't know why they're there, but I've seen, read and spoken with ex-service personnel myself: everybody has seen what post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, drug and alcohol dependency can do.
"This is where Combat Stress comes in and has been doing a fantastic job for some years now. I think the only upside is that because we're no longer in a combat role there hopefully won't be any new cases, but there are still men and women out there who need help.
"It's the kind of help that Combat Stress can provide within its needs and resources, and I think that need will continue".
Mr Hutchinson says it's important moving forward that the international community holds the Taliban to account: "The Taliban leadership may say that they're going to preserve the rights of women under Sharia Law, but the guys on the ground - the local warlord Taliban - are the ones who wield the power through the barrel of a gun.
"They may take no notice of the leadership in Kabul, and that link between the top leadership telling the international media one thing and the behaviour of the local warlords on the ground is quite another. I don't think they've got that control.
"It's going to be like an Afghan Game of Thrones but with mobile phones. We need to make sure that all communication methods that we've got are being taken up with the Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and Russian governments so that we all have a common front to make sure the Taliban government do what they say they're going to do and preserve the rights of women and children.
"They have to preserve all the other democratic progress that's been made, stick with it and run it".
Further details on supporting veterans' mental health can be found on the Combat Stress website here.