How The Big House Multibank and Amazon in Fife give surplus stock to families in need

Amazon and companies like them have surplus stock and goods they can’t sell or no longer need.

Whether it’s bedding, clothes, toiletries or toys, Tayside and Fife is full of families who need them.

That’s where The Big House Multibank comes in.

Launched in 2021, it acts as a middleman to get stuff that might otherwise have gone to waste to those who would otherwise struggle to afford them.

The Big Hoose – as it was known then – was started by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Kirkcaldy charity, The Cottage Family Centre.

Working with Amazon they established a warehouse in Lochgelly, provided by Purvis Group.

Click and collect from The Big House Multibank

From there products are accessed by charities and professionals such as teachers, social workers and GPs who know where they are needed.

They can select items from a weekly inventory using a click and collect system developed by Amazon.

The concept is so simple and effective that it has grown into a UK-wide network of five – soon to be six – Multibanks.

With one in four UK children living in poverty, The Multibank mission is to persuade business to waste not so families in Britain want not.

And around 90 companies have now joined the ‘coalition of compassion’. They include Heinz, INEOS, Kimberley Clark, Morrisons, PepsiCo, Poundland, Pretty Little Thing, Tesco and Unilever.

A Christmas campaign fronted by Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi urges individuals and organisations to donate to The Multibank.

The Multibank says its method means every £1 donated is worth £6 in social value.

An evaluation of the first 18 months of The Big Hoose found:

•  39 businesses donated 1,039,700 products in total
• 22% of those referred had no income at all
• 11% of families helped said they may have lost their tenancy otherwise
• 11% said their children may have been taken into care without its help
• 10% of parents helped said their children were doing better in school as a result, eg. better attendance or concentration
• 87% of parents/carers (87%) reported better confidence and self-esteem as a result of Big Hoose help.

How single mum Kelly was helped by The Big House Multibank

Among those supported was newly single mum Kelly. She was worried about coping financially as her second child Brandon was born.

The Big Hoose gave her nappies, wipes, blankets, cleaning products and other household essentials. It even provided a new vacuum cleaner, which Kelly would not have been able to save up for.

Not having to pay for costly nappies and wipes meant Kelly could focus on pay bills and buy groceries for herself and her daughter.

It also meant she could afford the bus fare to take her daughter to nursery, as moving out of her former partner’s home meant it was no longer walking distance.

How you can help The Multibank

Kelly said The Big Hoose alleviated the stress and worry of providing for her new son.

She said: “I wouldn’t have been able to afford these things otherwise, especially the hoover. It allows you to spend money on other things.”

The Multibank founder and president Mr Brown said: “Multibanks are not just about meeting needs but about offering hope that families struggling to get by can have a better life and, in particular, as we prepare for Christmas, we want Multibanks to put a smile on every child’s face.”

You can help Multibank by donating money to cover costs and purchase extra essentials and organisations can donate goods.