‘The Good Giraffe’ spreads cheer throughout Scotland

Instead of wallowing in his unemployment, one Scottish man is using his extra free time to help others — while in costume.

Armstrong Ballie, 32, travels around Scotland in a giraffe suit his mother made, doing good deeds along the way.

Ballie, currently unemployed, transforms into "The Good Giraffe" twice a week, committing his time to helping others. To fund his acts of kindness, the Scottish man busks, in costume, using a kazoo and djembe drum.

"Giraffes are like me, as my head is in the clouds but my heart is in the right place," Ballie told BBC Scotland of his animal choice.

Ballie hitchhikes everywhere, "but, get this, he can only be picked up by convertibles because of the difficulties of fitting into a normal vehicle in such an oversized costume. We didn't think there too many convertibles on Scottish roads but you learn something new every day," Joe.ie's Conor Heneghan writes.

See a gallery of Ballie's giraffe in action here.

"During the past six months Armstrong has handed out free bananas and water to runners at the Edinburgh Half Marathon, cleaned up litter on Portobello Beach and given away £10 vouchers to mothers in hospitals," BBC Scotland reports. "He has also been seen handing out free coffee to cold passers-by and cleaning cages at cat and dog homes."

His make-their-day strategy is working. The Metro reports that the Good Giraffe is making people smile in-person and online:

"I just read a story in the paper about a man who likes to do good deeds for random strangers whilst dressed as a giraffe and now I'm happy," someone tweeted.

Ballie has no intentions of putting away his suit in the near future:

"It makes me happy when I see the difference in people when they see me in the suit. It makes them happy and it makes me feel cheery," he told BBC Scotland.