The first “multibank” in London, distributing everything from basic foods to baby products and toiletries, has been launched amid continued concerns in the UK about levels of poverty as the school summer holidays begin.
Felix’s Multibank, which has the backing of former prime minister Gordon Brown and London mayor Sadiq Khan, is the latest in a growing network of multibanks. It will help thousands of families in west London.
More than two-thirds of teachers in England are worried that at least one child in their class will experience hunger during the summer holidays because their parents or carers cannot afford to feed them, according to a survey by the Teacher Tapp group. In London, a survey of 1,118 teachers also found that 68% of teachers believed at least one child in their class will experience hunger because parents and carers cannot afford to feed them during the holidays.
More than 2,600 food banks are serving two million families across Britain. But multibanks go beyond food to serve as a clothes and shoes bank, a toiletries bank, a bedding bank, a baby bank, a furnishings bank and a hygiene bank.
It began in 2022 with Fife’s Big House multibank, conceived by community champions to help families through one of the toughest winters yet. Here local families in deep poverty can, from one warehouse, get everything they need: from the food for dinner to the table and chairs on which to eat it and a duvet to keep them warm at night.
In its first year, the Fife multibank aimed to help 15,000 families with 150,000 goods. But just 18 months from its launch, the multibank has distributed one million goods worth an estimated worth of £20m to 40,000 families in Fife county, which has one of the UK’s most challenging child poverty rates.
A study by Social Value Lab found that in year one, the multibank had:
- Prevented 42% of families from accumulating more debt
- 90% reduction in children’s stress and anxiety levels as reported by professionals
- 27% of parents noted increased confidence and self-esteem in their children
- 68% of professionals witnessed better concentration and 59% reported improved school attendance
- 11% of parents credit it with preventing tenancy loss and the potential loss of their children to care
- A social return of £5.96 for every £1 invested
The Big House Project, the multibank or bank of banks, is led by the Cottage Family Centre, which was established in 1987 as a family centre in a broken-down three-room cottage. Building on its creche breakfast clubs, lunch clubs, play facilities and advice services, the Cottage has created a successful Dads Project that helps fathers be better dads to their children and a Grandparents and Carers project that helps people become better caregivers. During and since Covid, it has vastly expanded its Children’s Counselling and Therapeutic Service, as well as its Infant Parenting Project. The Family Centre has first-hand knowledge of who needs what.
The Fife Big House project has unlocked a method to tackle not just one but two of Britain’s biggest challenges at the same time – waste and family household poverty. “We enable retailers to green-bank their surplus products and deposit them in our warehouse before release for reuse by families in greatest need. The idea is simple: companies have surplus goods people need, and local organisations know the people who need them.”
The multibank encourages businesses and households to embrace the circular economy through a ‘bank’ of surplus but reusable household goods, from food, clothes, and toiletries, to furnishings, bedding, and baby goods. The multibank repurposes these goods, reusing them for the benefit of those in greatest need.
The multibanks are hyper-local, created by place-based charities working with social workers, health visitors and teachers who know what’s happening on the ground.
More than just an anti-poverty project, the multibank model is also an anti-pollution project that offers a one-stop shop for businesses which want to help – from the country’s biggest company, Amazon, and other leading British businesses to small local companies with roots in each locality.
A locally based, lead coordinating charity organizes the flow of goods; a warehousing system receives, sifts and distributes goods; and a professional referral system, guided by social workers, teachers, charities and health visitors, ensures that the goods get to people who need them.
Sources:
Gordon Brown launches London’s first ‘multibank’ amid UK child poverty fears. Guardian, Jul. 21, 2024
‘People haven’t woken up to the scale of this’: Gordon Brown on the UK’s child poverty scandal Guardian, May 18, 2024
How Amazon has helped 150,000 families in need receive 1.5 million essential goods for free. Amazon, Oct. 4 2023
Cover image: Amazon
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