Ex-army man sets his sights on the Three Peaks Challenge

Aaron Jarvis, of Maltby, was 16 when he joined the army. Now 20, he is ready to give something back and decided to complete a challenge to raise vital funds.

He said he had suffered with his mental health but never really spoke to anyone about it, so wanted to raise awareness of how important it was to seek help.

He said: “I joined the army straight after school. I trained for 49 weeks and then I did phase two training.

“The first thing I did was the Liverpool mass Covid testing in 2020. I went to Germany twice in 2021.

“I had to come back because of mental health reasons. I spoke to lots of people in the army to see what was the best for me.

“I never really spoke to anyone [about mental health]. I thought it was all normal, it is what it is. I thought it was not too bad.

“A couple of months ago I had to go to the doctor because I had a meltdown at work.”

That was a turning point. Aaron said he was doing better now so he opted to complete the Three Peaks Challenge on November 14 — with a bit of a twist.

He said: “I came across it on Facebook. I really wanted to do something about mental health and veterans.

“I feel like it’s really important to get more and better awareness every year.

“I’m going to walk the Three Peaks in Yorkshire with a weighted vest on, to simulate having body armour on.”

Support Aaron by visiting tinyurl.com/AaronChallenge and donating towards the welfare of the veterans.