Multibank backed by former Prime Minister to redistribute 750,000 surplus goods to West Midlands families in need
A new charity initiative has launched in Birmingham to donate more than 750,000 surplus goods to 75,000 families in need over the next 12 months.
The region’s first Multibank is led by Birmingham Voluntary Service Council with support from former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Amazon, and West Midlands mayor Richard Parker.
The West Midlands Multibank takes surplus products donated by businesses and gives them to families in need across the region.
From clothing, crockery, and cleaning products, to toiletries, towels and toys, Multibanks put business surplus in the hands of those who need it most.
Co-founded by Gordon Brown and Amazon, Multibanks are community donation hubs led by a prominent local charity that provide brand-new items for social workers, teachers, charities and community groups to distribute to local families.
This is the sixth Multibank, an initiative which launched in 2022 and has donated more than seven-million goods to help over 600,000 families from Multibanks in Scotland, Greater Manchester, Wales, London, Tees Valley, and now the West Midlands.
This year, families will receive more than a million orders from the Multibanks across the UK.
According to a report from BirminghamLive, almost half (46 per cent) of Birmingham’s children are growing up in poverty, up from 27 per cent in 2015 and more than at any time since records began.
The report also found that teachers and youth workers are frequently having to spend their own money to meet the basic needs of young people, while GPs and medics voiced their concerns about the mental and physical toll poverty is having on those impacted.
One of the solutions proposed by the report was the creation of a Multibank in the region.
The West Midlands Multibank will be run by Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC), building on the charity’s established work supporting children, young people and families across the region.
Community support organisations, schools and colleges, and charities in the West Midlands will now be able access the donated goods from the West Midlands Multibank including soap, toilet roll, household products, school kit and more.
He will mark the launch by donating 1,000, four-week bus passes, worth £64 each, to be given to families in need.
The Multibank will process donations from Amazon as well as Navigator and Sofidel in a dedicated 8,000 sq. ft warehouse in the Saltley area of Birmingham.
It will also welcome thousands of hygiene products donated by Amazon customers following their You Buy, We Donate campaign from earlier in the year, which was supported by suppliers of essential household brands.
Managed by Comic Relief, the fund will help to scale this vital service to more families across the country.
Gordon Brown said: “The opening of the West Midlands Multibank will help families, schools and all family support services across the region to have the material means to relieve and turn around the dreadful hardship being experienced across this region.
“Together, we are bringing immediate relief to many aspects of household poverty and I hope, restoring hope to all families that better days still do lie ahead.”
Products are principally donated by Amazon but with growing support from other businesses, including INEOS, Haleon, Morrisons, Navigator, Sofidel, ColPal, Pura and Unilever.
Amazon has also joined forces with suppliers to run more You Buy, We Donate campaigns again this year on Amazon.co.uk to boost essential supplies across the Multibank network.
