A CHARITY initiative launched last year by former PM Gordon Brown has now donated more than two million products to families in needs across Scotland.

The former Prime Minister – and former Dunfermline East and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP – is continuing to work with Amazon, the Big House Multibank and local businesses and suppliers to reach the latest milestone.

The Big House Multibank in Kirkcaldy was set up by The Cottage Family Centre which provides support to families and individuals who are vulnerable to social exclusion as a result of poverty, poor housing, unemployment, relationship breakdown, drug and alcohol problems, or other health-related issues.

With the help of its warehouse in Lochgelly, the organisation has helped to distribute 2.2 million donated products to households in Fife, Edinburgh, Dundee and Perth.
Amazon's Simon McMahon, Rt Hon Gordon Brown and Pauline Buchan from The Cottage Family Centre with some of the Multibank donations.Volunteers helping sort donations for the Big House Multibank. (Image: Ian Georgeson)

Other Multibanks across the UK have also distributed another 800,000 from sites in Wigan and Swansea.

The latest milestone coincides with the opening of a new Multibank in London, which will donate more than 400,000 surplus essential goods to 40,000 families in need across London over the next 12 months.

READ MORE: Former MP praises charity delivering support to Fife families

Building on the work of the first Multibank in Fife, the Felix Multibank service will help families experiencing poverty by providing essentials like toiletries, baby products, cleaning goods and bedding donated by Amazon, and other national and local businesses.

A volunteer helping sort donations for the Big House Multibank.A volunteer helping sort donations for the Big House Multibank. (Image: Ian Georgeson)

The project has drawn support from the Major of London who has committed £250,000 to help with running costs for the London site.

Additional funding has been provided through the Multibank Fund, established with £1 million of seed funding from Amazon and Comic Relief, to help finance the expansion of Multibanks in areas of need across the UK.

Mr Brown said: "This milestone highlights the enormously important and pioneering work of the UK’s first Multibank in Fife, set up in 2022, which has been helping families most in need cope with the cost-of-living crisis initially in Kirkcaldy but now across the East of Scotland."

John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager, Amazon, said: “Since 2022, the Multibank has grown rapidly, donating millions of essential items to households across the UK. The addition of The Felix Project to the network is a natural next step.

"We’ve already supported more than 400,000 families from our existing Multibanks, giving those experiencing poverty access to the essentials they need while contributing to a more circular economy.”

A volunteer helping sort donations for the Big House Multibank.A volunteer helping sort donations for the Big House Multibank. (Image: Ian Georgeson)

Felix’s Multibank is the fourth Multibank established in the UK by Gordon Brown and Amazon.

The first Multibank launched in Fife, Scotland in 2022, followed by a second site in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 2023, and a third in Swansea in March, 2024.

The launch of Felix’s Multibank follows a four-year partnership between Amazon and The Felix Project.

Since 2020, Amazon has donated over 10 million meals to help the charity fight hunger in London, and provides drivers and vans to transport food donations across London every week.