FORMER prime minister Gordon Brown has joined forces with Comic Relief to urge big businesses to help families in poverty.
The former Labour leader invited socially responsible firms and philanthropic foundations to join together in a “coalition of compassion” and donate goods and money to a service called Multibank, which helps families fighting poverty.
The first Multibank launched in Fife and is a click-and-collect service for charities and organisations with all the goods being donated by companies, principally Amazon.
Now with a second Multibank in Wigan, they have donated more than 1.5 million items to 150,000 families across Scotland and Greater Manchester.
At an event in London on Thursday, Comic Relief and online giant Amazon offered to help expand the initiative, with a goal of supporting half a million families from six Multibanks by the end of 2024 across the UK.
Mr Brown said: “We are now seeing poverty in Britain on a scale I never thought we’d see again.
“It is this winter crisis ahead that makes us appeal for emergency actions and a new social contract between companies and charities.
“Children cannot be made to pay in their life chances and from their very earliest years for the continuing cost-of-living crisis.
“The success of our Multibanks in Fife and Wigan shows big business can make substantial differences to families’ ability to care for their children, which is a benefit to us all in future.
“I am very grateful to Amazon for co-founding the ground-breaking Multibank model and helping to encourage other businesses to donate their products that would otherwise have gone to waste.
“I’m delighted to welcome Comic Relief to our coalition of compassion, helping us to lift even more families out of material poverty whilst at the same time helping reduce waste and promote recycling and reuse of products.
“I call on all companies to give what they can – surplus goods or money – to support this important initiative against poverty.
“We have a particular need for household cleaning and hygiene goods so that children don’t need to be sent to school unwashed and without clean teeth.”
The first Multibank was set up by Mr Brown in partnership with the Cottage Family Centre, which provides support to families and individuals who are vulnerable to social exclusion as a result of poverty. Known locally as “The Big Hoose”, it was established in 2022.
The Cottage Family Centre Strategic Manager Pauline Buchan said: “The difference the Big Hoose Project here in Fife has made since its inception in December 2021 has been truly transformative enabling us to improve the lives of families across our communities and we are absolutely delighted to see the initiative expand across the UK.”