A West Lothian veteran has used his design skills to raise funds for Help for Heroes.
The charity helped Gus McLean with his recovery and supports other wounded and sick veterans and their families.
The former army musician, from Bathgate, served with the Royal Scots infantry for three years, including tours of Germany, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Cyprus, before transferring to the Corps of Army Music where he played the flute. He took the decision to leave the army in 1996 for a career change to welding, which he did for many years before the impact of his army years saw him suffer a breakdown.
Having been diagnosed with PTSD, Gus found Help for Heroes in 2014 and regular visits to his nearest H4H Recovery Centre, Phoenix House saw him try lots of activities - from archery to yoga – in a bid to find one that worked for him in preventing his moods from fluctuating so dramatically.
Eventually Gus discovered a love for doing arts and crafts which have taken over his life in a big way, providing him with a go-to chill out activity in times of stress – and led to his designs being chosen for a new range of clothing to raise funds to support other veterans.
Gus said: “Art has helped me get to a better place mentally and gives me a better outlook for the future. Art helps me with my concentration. It makes things so simple, you don’t get anything wrong, even if you don’t like it at the end. It’s the time not thinking about your problems, it just helps towards your recovery and gives you a break from your anxiety”.
Help for Heroes has used a graphic designed logo created by Gus for a range of clothing and an illustration for a t-shirt. The premium Triumph range has taken patriotic influences and mixed them with two helping hands into an embroidered emblem across the collection, while the Old School Tattoo T-Shirt is inspired by Gus’ tattoo style art and incorporates Help
for Heroes into a scroll effect.
Gus says: “The fact that my design is going to raise money for Help for Heroes is brilliant.
“The money raised is doing more than you can imagine, helping families get back on their feet to some kind of normality. It’s something to be proud of.’’
Gus is a member of the charity’s fellowship network, Band of Brothers (BOB), which is available to veterans and service personnel who have suffered a permanently life-limiting or career-ending injury or illness during or attributable to their service.
His wife Gail joined the Help for Heroes Band of Sisters, which is available to veterans’ loved ones, after seeing how much the BOB network had helped her husband.
Both networks are free, confidential offer lifelong access to all the financial and welfare support from Help for Heroes as well as providing opportunities to meet others who are living through similar experiences.
