It seems Britain really is a nation of animal lovers! - nearly a quarter of Brits would give up their spare time to help moggies in distress. In fact, so fond are we of our furry friends that helping out an animal charity ranked as the favourite good cause to help out, while only 10% would help the elderly, 9% would foster homeless children and only 6% would share their time to improve the lives of the handicapped.

What other good causes tug at our heart strings? Well, the environment was a winner too, with 9% saying they'd help out an environmental cause and a further 9% willing to help clean up their local community.

Not so generous all however - a miserly 11% of people said they'd rather not help at all! And it seems it's the men are letting the side down, with a lazy 17% wriggling out of sharing their time. Even more worrying, it seems the older we get the less willing we are to share our precious time. While only 4% of 16-24s would see helping out as too much trouble, this creeps up steadily through the years - right up to 15% of over 55s!

FON says: Come on oldies, forget the gardening and share the love!