Scotland’s national housing and homelessness charity is calling on kind-hearted Scots to donate this year’s Leap Day – Monday 29th February – by volunteering in one of its nationwide shops.

Alongside its plea for sellable second-hand goods, Shelter Scotland says donating even a couple of hours to volunteering in one of its shop could help the charity to raise enough funds to help some of the most vulnerable people across Scotland.

Shelter Scotland says it desperately needs volunteers, now more than ever, as every hour (62 minutes) a family in Scotland is assessed as homeless.

There were 35,764 homeless applications across Scotland in 2014-15.

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “This Leap Year each of us has an extra 24 hours to make a difference to the world. We urge people across Scotland to consider donating a day – or even a couple of hours – to volunteering in one of our shops.

“Our dedicated team of volunteers make a real difference to our vital work all year round and provide endless support in our fight against bad housing and homelessness.

“We look forward to welcoming anyone who wishes to donate some time to volunteering in one of our shops and who wishes to help make a real difference to families and individuals facing the tragedy of homelessness.”

According to Volunteer Scotland, volunteering contributes to Scotland’s economic and social prosperity with more than 1.2 million people (28 per cent) volunteering in the last year alone, contributing an estimated £2.6 billion to Scotland’s economy.

In Scotland around 30 per cent of adults help an organisation or group and 17 per cent volunteer regularly.

Shelter Scotland has a network of almost 40 shops across Scotland.

To find out more about volunteering opportunities at Shelter Scotland visit www.shelterscotland.org/volunteer.