The familiar face of charity shops may be changing as more and more men are signing up to volunteer in charity retail, according to the experience of the British Heart Foundation.

Rising unemployment levels and the charity’s expansion in to furniture and electrical retail have been cited as the reasons behind a 100 per cent increase in the number of men volunteering in British Heart Foundation charity shops. One in three volunteers are now men, as opposed to one in six three years ago.

BHF has seen an overall increase in charity shop volunteer numbers from 10,867 in 2008 to 19,128 this year, but says the even within this dramatic increase, the spike in  male interest in volunteering is remarkable. Men used to account for 16 per cent of all shop volunteers and now make up 29 per cent of BHF's voluntary shop staff.

A quarter of men would consider volunteering at a charity shop, according to Charity Retail Association figures, but they are interested in different kinds of roles.

Of those who said they would volunteer, 22 per cent were interested in testing electricals. Meanwhile men felt more inclined towards management positions, with 30 per cent saying they could bring management skills to their volunteer role compared to just 6 per cent of women.

Women, meanwhile, prefer customer-facing positions, with 72 per cent feeling they had experience in this field against 49 per cent of men who said they had something to offer in this field.