A new charity initiative is launching in Birmingham today 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 the Mayor of the West Midlands, 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 7 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 ‘Birmingham: A Child Poverty Emergency’, almost half (46%) of Birmingham’s children are growing up in poverty, up from 27% in 2015 and more than at any time since records began.
The report 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. BVSC aims to ensure no good product goes to waste, and no family goes without the essentials they need.
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.
The project has drawn support from Richard Parker, the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority, who has worked closely with Gordon Brown, BVSC and Amazon to bring the pioneering Multibank initiative to the region. 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 including Unilever, L’Oréal, Garnier, Nivea, Colgate, and Tommee Tippee, and backed by delivery logistics providers, Palletline, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.
Amazon helped set-up the warehouse operations and will provide logistics and tech support, together with team members from its fulfilment centre in Sutton Coldfield to work at the West Midlands Multibank on-site full-time for three years. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud computing business, will provide additional digital skills support and training for people accessing the Multibank in the region, and has pledged £80,000 to cover the site’s rent this year.
The project is backed by the Multibank Fund, established by Comic Relief and Amazon, who have committed an additional £6 million over the next four years to fund the sustainability of Multibanks across the UK. Managed by Comic Relief, the fund will help to scale this vital service to more families across the country.
Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister, said: “The opening of the West Midland’s 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. John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager at Amazon, and I are grateful to BVSC for coordinating the start-up of the West Midlands Multibank and we thank local community charities and businesses like Palletline, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz for their pledges of support to help us roll out our Multibank coalition of compassion in the region. We are also grateful to Amazon customers and suppliers for their smart partnership which is ensuring tens of thousands of hygiene and essential baby products are already in stock here to support families across the region who need the most. It just shows what we can do when we choose to come together to make a difference. 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.”
John Boumphrey, UK country manager, Amazon, said: “Our goal is simple, to help as many families across the West Midlands as possible, by connecting surplus goods from Amazon and other businesses, with those who need it most. We’ve now donated 7 million products to more than 600,000 families by working with committed partners to scale the Multibank across the UK. But this is just the beginning as we bring together our resources, logistics expertise and AWS technology to operate this vital hub, and with support from the charity and business sectors we will reach even more people this year.”
Brian Carr, CEO, Birmingham Voluntary Service Council, said: “At BVSC we work hard with our community and public sector partners to tackle child poverty, which is a growing scourge on our society. Now, thanks to Gordon Brown’s vision and to the generous support of Amazon and Comic Relief, the West Midlands Multibank is established and will be helping local charities, schools and social workers to access essential goods for families in need. This is a visionary initiative that has the potential to tackle poverty and reduce pollution all whilst improving people’s lives. We look forward to growing across the West Midlands, and to welcoming more charities and private sector donors into the effort.”
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Too many families are struggling to afford the basics, and no child should have to go without. The Multibank is making a real difference – providing essentials that ease pressure on parents and bring a bit of joy to children who need it most. This also shows what can happen when businesses step up for their communities. Donating surplus stock isn’t just about reducing waste – it’s about giving families a helping hand when they need it most.”
Samir Patel, CEO of Comic Relief, said: “This new Multibank will be an invaluable lifeline to many people across the region. Comic Relief is incredibly proud to support and help this vital cross organisational initiative that helps essential goods; whether it’s clothes, bedding, household products or school uniforms reach communities and families who need it most throughout the UK.”
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.
