Knocked back after 22 attempts to get help for complex post traumatic stress disorder (CPSTD), Allen Stokes, came within seconds of dying in a suicide attempt.

The big six-footer, originally from Shropshire, was saved only by two people finding him hanged in Newport near Telford.

"I knew what I was doing and had lapsed into unconsciousness," recalls Tiny, now 52. "The next thing I knew was coming round on the floor. One poor little guy had been holding me up by the legs while his mate went to find a blade and they managed to cut me down."

After evading the police so he would not be sanctioned he took the episode as a serious eye-opener.

A former French Foreign Legionnaire, Tiny recounts the story, not to shock or elicit sympathy, but to highlight the reality many face when they do not receive the necessary support when suffering from PTSD and CPSTD.

Not only has Tiny survived fighting in Iraq during the Gulf War, he has suffered two heart attacks, has asthma, arthritis and diabetes. 18 years of homelessness following his service, has seen him develop the CPSTD, which includes difficulty in controlling emotions, feelings of shame and guilt, as well as destructive behaviour such as self-harm and substance abuse. 

He ended up in Plymouth started meditating and finding a more spiritual way of dealing with his issues. It was after a meditation session on a boat Tiny suggested to a RAF veteran they do the cycle ride.

Cycling on a bike originally donated by Halford, but is pretty much like Trigger's Broom now, with the handle bars and frame, the only original bits left, Tiny set off from Plymouth around his birthday on December 8 2021, on the 7,000 UK journey.

His epic adventure has since taken in Land's End, Holyhead, Snowdon, Ben Nevis and John O'Groats. He survived Norfolk and today completed his Suffolk leg before heading to the army garrison city of Colchester. 

Along the way Tiny plays his didgeridoo to help his own daily needs and lives by his wits, while also urging people to donate to his gofundme.com page here... and he keeps his 3.8k Facebook page followers up to date.

So far during his travels, he has slept under a tarpaulin in woodlands, group members' homes, shop doorways, car parks, bed and breakfasts, hotel gardens, road lay-bys and a churchyard, where he frighted the life out of some late night visitors as he emerged from his sleeping bag from behind grave.  

Last night it was land belonging to peninsula farmer and Tractor Run organiser Russell Abbott who welcomed the intrepid traveller and gave him provisions and a donation before seeing him on his way.

Tiny explained to Nub News how he came to stop in the village.

"My bike and kit were too big for the foot ferry so I came inland," he said. "I got here and had puncture. By then there was rain to the left of me, thunder and lightning to the right so I had to stop."

The whole point is to not just raise funds, but also awareness, and highlight the lack of help out there for people like him.

He told Nub News: "It's a lot about PTSD awareness and helping people find the support I never got. 

"I've met so many veterans whose lives are in the bottom of a bottle. 

Tiny is aiming to raise £40,000 for some smaller, perhaps lesser-known military charities that he knows from experience and chatting to other vets need financial support. 

While cycling, Allen is discovering new charities he wants to support with his fundraising, so it is vital he raises as much money as possible before his predicted finish in October. 

The charities include the Plymouth Warrior Within Project, Outpost Charity, Woody's Lodge, Newport Veterans Hub and Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Clubs. 

While not a British serviceman, his dad ripped up his army papers at aged 17, Tiny did his bit as a legionnaire, after seeing an advert in the middle pages of the Daily Star in 1989 and sneaking off to France with a mate, telling their parents they were going grape-picking.

Tiny said: My grandad was in the Coldstream Guards during World War Two but when he cam back he never spoke about what had happened.

"My dad vowed none of the family would join up and he refused to sign my papers, in fact he ripped them up.

"But I was determined and that how I ended up going to France and signing up near Paris.

"It was tough, especially when the arthritis kicked in following an injury but I got through it."

He retuned to the UK after the Gulf War planning to rejoin the Legion in Bosnia, but it never happened and instead he started an 18-year life on the streets.

Allen's progress can be followed on his Facebook group 'Tiny's GB Cycle Ride' and you can donate at his gofundme.com page here...