Veteran Sleeps Rough To Raise Awareness Of Mental Health

An RAF veteran has been walking 250 miles and sleeping rough to raise awareness of homelessness and mental health.

Steven Thomas started off from his hometown in Blaengwynfi, South Wales, on the 16th December, and plans to finish on his 40th birthday, on the 21st February.

He has been walking across the Brecon Beacons and will soon be in London before heading to Camarthen, Wales, having walked a total of 1,400 miles.

Thomas ended up homeless himself after experiencing mental health and alcohol issues. He said:

"I started the walk as I was getting into a bad place after my mum died in June.

"I decided to be open about mental health, in the hope of getting the stigma gone."

Throughout his journey, Steve has suffered leg injuries and has been warned several times by the police. 

As a consequence, he has had to change his route as 'it wasn't safe to use the planned route'.

"So far as I've lost a little more weight than I had planned to," he posted on Facebook, "And that's with eating as many calories as humanly possible."

Along the way, he has met other homeless veterans, as well as encountering a lot of supporters:

"The public response has been amazing, they can't do enough to help our lads and lasses.

"It wasn't what I expected, as you convince yourself people don't care about veterans."

Thomas is also raising money for Walking With The Wounded, which helps injured former servicemen and women transition from the military to civilian life.

The 39-year-old was an RAF communications operator, serving in Bosnia, Cyprus, Canada, Germany and the Falkland Islands.

Cover picture courtesy of Facebook/Roughing It For Our Heroes.