Loved ones, friends and festive well-wishers are being asked to send their Christmas messages to our brave servicemen and women serving abroad as part of a project run by the Telegraph & Argus.

Anyone who wants to support our troops is asked to e-mail their festive messages for us to publish on our website and in the newspaper. Copies will later be sent to local troops serving abroad.

The Yorkshire Regiment is stationed at bases in Germany and Cyprus, with many soldiers set to join military operations in countries like Afghanistan early in the new year.

War veteran David Bryan,of Shipley, knows how much messages from back home mean to soldiers on the front line, having sent dozens of messages to grandson Shaun, 21, during his first tour of duty to Afghanistan.

Mr Bryan, 74, of Nab Wood Drive, said: “They are out there in harsh conditions and under such stress that just knowing that the local paper is thinking of them will give them a boost.

“It will be great for them to think ‘I’m not forgotten’. They know that their families are with them but it is good to let them know that the rest of the country are behind them as well.”

Telegraph & Argus editor Perry Austin-Clarke, said: “Our troops from across the Bradford district are doing such a tremendous job in some of the most dangerous places on earth.

“That is why we want people, through our newspaper and website, to be able to send them their good wishes this Christmas. It is clear from speaking to the relatives of our brave men and women overseas, just how much it means to them to get messages from home.

“We are so glad we can show them our support at a time when they are thousands of miles away from their own friends and family.”

E-mail messages to newsdesk@telegraphandargus, with the subject line ‘Christmas Messages’.