Homeless Veterans Appeal: Charity's video is Dickens of a message for modern times

The Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol is a seasonal parable that has stood the test of time. Its message of compassion is universal and its impact is all the greater for relating to a period when the difference between life's 'haves' and 'have nots' is at its most noticeable.

Every year as the weather gets colder and the shops fill with festive cheer, people contact Veterans Aid - because the idea of ex-servicemen and women being homeless at Christmas fills them with dismay. The charity made this film in response to this seasonal sentiment - and to make two points. Being homeless is bad at any time of year and however bad things seem, there is hope.

The men in this film are real veterans whose lives couldn't be more different, but the former submariner, infantry soldier and RAF technician were united by two things - at one time they were all homeless and they were all helped by Veterans Aid.