Over 6,000 children will be homeless in Scotland this Christmas, but you could brighten up their holiday by becoming a #SocialMediaSanta

Homeless charity Shelter is calling on Scots to take on the guise of a Social Media Santa this Christmas.

The charity is looking for donations of new toys to give to children who are homeless this Christmas and who may not get very much from Santa otherwise.

Social Media Santa is in its sixth year and has raised thousands of gives for homeless children via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The charity says that 6,041 children will be homeless this Christmas across Scotland.

It encourages people to go out and buy a gift, take a picture of it and post it using the hashtag #SocialMediaSanta – and of course send it on to Shelter Scotland.

The charity is looking for gifts for children from six to 16 years old. They should be sent to the charity unwrapped so that it knows what age they are for.

Its campaign runs until 11 December.

Adam Lang, head of communications and policy at Shelter Scotland, says: "Social Media Santa has proved to be a big hit with social media users who want to help bring some Christmas cheer to homeless families and their children in Scotland.

"No child should be homeless at Christmas but we know there will be more than 6,000 children without a place to call home this festive season across Scotland, so we will carry on our campaigning until there's a home for everyone.”