We were in a mess.. the holiday put us

5k Run Edinburgh 1 Jan 7 Great Winter Run 25.7k 2 Jan 1-8 Resolution to the Moon and 3 Feb Love you run Back monthly virtual 4 March 8 International 10k Women’s Day run 13k 5 April 9 Kilomethon Edinburgh Run 10miles 6 April 23 Great the right shoes 7 April Give a girl 125k mont hly challenge Fourth Be with 8 May 4 May the Y ou run Ho Seriously 9 May 13 Gung 10 May 14 Fun Run 11 May Triathlon 12 May 27 Edinburgh 5k Marat hon Festival for Manchester 13 May 28 Run 22 challenge 14 May 100 Mile Half Marathon 15 June 3 Benbecula Woman distance 16 July Wonder challe nge Loch Ness Marathon 17 September 24 164k 5k 5k 5k After serving in the Armed Forces for 22 years, it wasn’t plain sailing when Lance Corporal Tommy McKay returned to civvy street in 2012.

He was suffering from PTSD and partial hearing loss after a mortar attack.

But Poppyscotland were there to help. The charity sent Tommy, wife Lynne and their three children – Aaron, 14, Finlay, 11, and Brooke, five – on a family holiday to the Lake District.

Lynne said: “We were in a mess and the holiday kept our family together and put us back on track.” Tommy found it hard to readjust after serving in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan with 5 Scots, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

He said: “During my time in Afghanistan, we were under mortar attack every other day. Losing comrades out of the blue is tough – you don’t know if and when your pals are coming back. To be honest, I still find it hard to this day.”

After leaving the Army, Tommy only took a few weeks off before starting full-time as an HGV driver, working away during the week and returning home to the family in Kinross every weekend. Like many ex-servicemen and women, he is still living with the mental scars of conflict.

Lynne said: “Not long after he got back, I remember Tommy starting an argument in Tesco out of nothing.

“Later he told me that it was the smell of bacon in the supermarket that set him off and he had to get out.

“The smell reminds Tommy of burning bodies.” And there are other