Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Mountaineering has become my calling’: How the great outdoors helped a former soldier climb out of despair

Former Scots' Guard soldier Scott Flett is helping veterans through hillwalking.
Former Scots' Guard soldier Scott Flett is helping veterans through hillwalking.

Scott Flett knows first-hand the struggles soldiers face after leaving the armed forces.

The former Scots’ Guard served from 1996 until 2002.

His work took him from ceremony duties in London to the streets of Northern Ireland.

But after his departure, the Buckie man felt alone and turned to alcohol.

It was a slippery slope that got him into trouble.

From the Army to mountaineering

After years of mental health struggles, he turned his life around and found his calling in mountaineering after seeing a TV programme about Munros.

Now the 41-year-old certified mountain leader is helping fellow veterans reap the mental wellbeing benefits through the Guards Veterans Mountaineering group.

Scott Flett climbing at the Cairngorms National Park.

Scott said: “Once I left the army I found it really hard. One day it was a big family and the next day I was alone.

“I struggled and hit the drink and got into trouble. It took quite a long time to sort myself out.”

Scott moved to Aberdeen to get away from Buckie and then went offshore, determined to focus on work.

Watching a TV programme about Munros turned out to be the catalyst for turning his life around.

I have finally found my call.”

He said: “I was sick of going to pubs and I needed to stop.

“I needed something else to get out the house.

“In the forces when we are going up hills it is not enjoyable. However, now it gives you headspace and gets you recharged in the outdoors.

“I have finally found my call.”

Scott’s goal with the Guards Veterans Mountaineering group is to get his charges up to mountain leader standard.

He added: “Hopefully we can get funding from the forces to pay for training so these people can get out the mental place they are at.”

Army experience was an ‘eye opener’

He joined the armed forces at 16 and was not prepared for what the military had in store for him.

Scott Flett in uniform.

He said: “When I joined I was too young to go to Northern Ireland so I first went to London to do the ceremony duties.

“When I turned 18 I got shipped off to Northern Ireland to do a bit more real soldiering rather than a tourist attraction.

“It was a bit of an eye-opener for me as I was so young and hadn’t seen any of the violence happening on the news.

The experience affected me after I left the army.”

“I hadn’t left Buckie beyond going to London for training which was hard.

“Institutional bullying in training I thought was normal and it was not.

“I never had to deal with bullying first-hand and there were suicides during training.

“The experience affected me after I left.

Ambition to climb Mount Everest

Scott wants to follow in the footsteps of friend Adele Pennington by conquering Mount Everest.

She was the first British woman to have climbed Mount Everest twice. As well as this she holds the British female record for climbing six of the fourteen 8,000m peaks.

He said: “I want to climb Mount Everest before I’m 45-years-old.

“I know a couple of guys who have done it.

“I’m also friends with Adele Pennington who was the first British female to go up Mount Everest twice.”

  • He has recently set up a Facebook group to help locals get into walking up the the hills for mental health benefits.

Other articles you might be interested in reading:Â