Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown along with Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan visited a Greenford depot of The Felix Project on Tuesday (23 July 2024) to launch the charity’s new multibank which is aiming to provide more than 400,000 surplus essential goods to 40,000 families across London over the next 12 months.
The service aims to help people with essentials including baby products, toiletries, cleaning goods and bedding donated by companies including Amazon and other businesses. The London launch expands on the multibank network which is co-founded by Mr Brown and Amazon.
The first multibank launched in Fife, in 2022, then Wigan in Greater Manchester in 2023 and earlier this year in Swansea. To date 3 million essential goods have been delivered to help over 400,000 families.
The project is being supported by the Mayor of London who has committed £250,000 to help with running costs for the London site with funding also provided through the Multibank Fund which was established with £1 million of seed funding from Amazon and Comic Relief.
Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO, The Felix Project said: “Every day The Felix Project is helping to provide healthy and nutritious meals to people in need across London, but we know it is not just food they want. For those on low incomes all items are a struggle to afford, from toiletries and cleaning products to bedding and other household goods.”
Ms Hill added: “Thanks to this incredible partnership, Felix’s Multibank will be able to ensure our network of community organisations can provide more of the things people need and just as importantly prevent perfectly usable items from going to waste.”
Gordon Brown said: “As I go round the country, I find too many children growing up in homes without heating, bedrooms without beds, floors without floor coverings, kitchens without kitchen utensils and bathrooms without soap, shampoo or toothpaste. Having gained experience from the benefits to families of our Multibanks in Scotland, the North West of England and Wales we are delighted now to work with The Felix Project who have such a strong reputation for doing good in the capital.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “By funding Felix’s first Multibank in London we will help those who need it most by providing essentials including baby clothes, food and toiletries all in one place.”
John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager for Amazon said: “Since 2020, we have supported The Felix Project’s mission to fight food waste and hunger with more than 10 million meals, as well vans and drivers to transport food to Londoners in need every week. Through Felix’s Multibank, we will help many more vulnerable families across London by providing surplus essentials from Amazon and other businesses to those who need them most.”
