This, like no other moment since World War II, is our country’s hour of need.
The coronavirus pandemic has taken the nation into unchartered territory and the future is uncertain.
What we do now will determine how and when we emerge from these dark days.
Our actions will limit the havoc this terrible disease can wreak across the land.
They will hasten the return of those ordinary and vital pleasures that are part of the fabric of our lives.
And they will tell us much about ourselves.
Are we the type of people who turn our backs when neighbours flounder?
Put simply, our collective response will define us.
The majority have listened to the expert advice to help protect themselves and our magnificent NHS.
But we must all go further still.
We have seen retired doctors and nurses dust down their uniforms and stethoscopes to get back to work.
Thousands more have already responded to calls for a volunteer army to help the vulnerable.
In the first few hours, these Great Scots numbered 21,000 and set an example we are now asking you to follow.
We have no hesitation in urging everyone who is fit and able to serve their community to do so.
If you can help others in this moment of need in our history then it is your duty.
Pick up the phone or go online and say five simple words: I would like to volunteer.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the reaction to the current crisis proved there is such a thing as society.
He was rebutting Margaret Thatcher’s infamous speech from the 80s, a decade where untrammelled self-interest was celebrated.
Well, Prime Minister, we always knew there was such a thing as society and we knew there were communities worth fighting for.
It shouldn’t have needed a pandemic to make us realise we need each other.
But we now have to show just how much we value our fellow citizens.
There are people in our villages, town and cities who will not make it on their own.
We must not fail in the challenge to prove Scotland Cares.
Volunteer today.
