Christmas is a wonderful time of year for most but can be extremely hard for families who are doing it tough.

New research by the Salvation Army has found 1.6 million Australians with children under 10 won’t be able to give them a present this year. A staggering increase of more that 1 million on last year.

The Salvation Army’s Communications and Fundraising Director Leigh Cleave, talks to Chris Smith about the shocking statistics.

“To see the significant increase this year is quite confronting and for us it was is this really true. But it does reflect what our people on the frontline are seeing.”

This Christmas The Salvos will help more than 300,000 people, serve more than 10,000 meals and distribute more than half a million gifts and toys.

And they’re asking for the public’s help in their annual Christmas appeal.

Click PLAY below for the interview, click here or call 13 72 58 to find how you can help this Christmas