The Southampton branch of the Children's Society's charity shop in Portswood is looking for more staff and hope that public-spirited locals will add volunteering to their list of New Year resolutions.

The Children's Society works with 40,000 children and their families throughout the country in more than 100 projects. Thanks to the funds raised by shops it is able to reach out to child runaways in danger on the streets, offer help to children and families in some of the country's most deprived areas and assist children experiencing problems at school, such as bullying.

Area retail manager Roy Foster said: "This year is the International Year of Volun-teers which is a celebration of volunteers around the world. We want to be part of that celebration and invite more people to get involved down here in our shop."

Mr Foster said: "One of our volunteers told me how glad she was to have made that first call. Making new friends by taking part in our work was the best thing she ever did. In fact she said it was a resolution that's really easy to keep"

Anyone interested in finding out more about volunteering should call Roy Foster on Freephone 0800 980 8527.