Corrie’s Antony Cotton said “that is a 23-year-old. It is heartbreaking.”

Coronation Street star Antony Cotton is calling on the public to back the Help for Heroes’ Christmas campaign by sending festive messages of appreciation to veterans.

Antony, 49, who plays Sean Tully in the ITV soap, stresses the need for veterans to know that they have not been forgotten. A patron of the charity, he says loneliness and feelings of isolation can be a massive problem for former military personnel – especially at Christmas.

Awarded the MBE in 2022 for services to the British Army, personnel and veterans, he tells The Mirror : “These men and women fought for our country, their mates died and they literally carried their friends home.

“When they leave camp for the last time it is like part of them has gone and I honestly can’t imagine what that feeling is like. I think at Christmas when people are talking about joy, happiness, and family there will be thousands of people – not just from the military – who heartbreakingly will be feeling very lonely and isolated.

“I was chatting to a young lad who had recently been medically discharged. I asked him what he would be doing for Christmas and he wasn’t sure. I asked him if he had family and he said he didn’t speak to them as he had had quite a tough upbringing.

“He said he would probably be spending Christmas on his own. That is a 23-year-old. It is heartbreaking.” Antony says that receiving a simple, digital message could make all the difference to veterans, adding: “Help for Heroes have created a link you can click to their digital message wall, it is really simple and you write your name and who you want to write your message to – it could be a serving person in the armed forces, or a veteran from a particular regiment or your home town.

“These messages will then be delivered to people and if someone is feeling a little bit isolated and they read a message from a stranger wishing them a wonderful Christmas, it could help people feel a little bit less lonely.

“Our armed forces are the backbone of our society and I think more than ever right now we should be grateful for them, given what is going on around the world and none of us know what is around the corner.”

Antony has also been campaigning avidly for an improvement in military housing, after being inundated with complaints about leaking roofs, dodgy boilers and mouldy homes from families living in service accommodation.

He lobbied the previous government tirelessly on this issue and also the high cost of rail fares – making it difficult for those serving in the military to visit relatives regularly. He asked to meet both the Transport Secretary and Defence Secretary but got no response.

But, earlier this month, he was invited to Westminster to meet with the new Labour Secretary of State for Defence John Healey to highlight both issues.

This is at Soldier Academy North (ITC) in Catterick today. Visiting the Hive and Welfare Hub on camp. The team is led by Lindsay Russell on the right. Sgt Liam Finnegan on the left.

Antony says: “I gave John Healey him my pitch about the need for improvements in accommodation which isn’t up to scratch. A lot of it was built after WWII, it isn’t fit for purpose and there have been 14 years of Government cutbacks.

“I don’t blame the Armed Forces for this at all – they can only work with the budget they are given.” Now Antony and the Minister plan to visit some sites together to see what improvements need to be made. Antony says: “I am delighted that the Minister is taking this issue seriously.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “This government has inherited service accommodation in a dire state and we are determined to fix it.

“We are delivering our Plan for Change by renewing the nation’s contract with those who serve, and we are working hard to improve the quality of housing for our personnel and their families – including developing new standards for service accommodation.

“We are committed to listening to our people and are establishing an Armed Forces Commissioner to act as a strong, independent champion for personnel and their families to improve service life.”