13,000 Fife families to benefit from donation of thousands of items from Amazon and Co-op

The Cottage Family Centre in Kirkcaldy has today announced the new ground-breaking project in association with Fife charities to help families in need by delivering tens of thousands of goods donated by Amazon.

Already around 10,000 goods have been made available by Amazon to what is called The Big House Fife Project, with 6,000 already delivered to local charities and families from toiletries to electrical goods and home furnishings. In addition to the engagement of Amazon, the Cottage have already signed up with the Coop and Scotmid who have also offered to help supply goods to families.

“This is the biggest charitable anti-poverty project I have seen in Fife in decades and I am already seeing a difference in people’s lives”, says the Cottage's long-time Patron Gordon Brown, who first made contact with Amazon’s UK Managing Director John Boumphrey and the Coop and Scotmid.

“Our objective is to provide a regular supply of vital household goods to help ease poverty in Fife at a time when, with fuel and food bills rising, and people are under more pressure than ever. We estimate that over 13,000 families could be helped in the first year.”

The multimillion pound injection of family support has been in operation since late December 2021 and came as the Cottage supported 1,600 children and their families in the Kirkcaldy areas through their Christmas appeal.

The Big House Fife Project will now provide practical support with household items and essential goods such as nappies and toiletries with the Cottage working in coalition with many Fife charities but also striking up partnerships with the Cooperative group and Scotmid to further support families in need.

Purvis Group have also offered a large warehouse facility and help with transportation.

Pauline Buchan, Manager of The Cottage Family Centre, who is organising the distribution of goods said: “When we started our Christmas appeal in 2010 we knew that the time around Christmas and into the New Year was especially difficult for our service users.

“However as the years have passed we now have families in need every single day facing significant hardship and poverty.

"It’s been a huge boost to work with Amazon and our fellow coalition partners to be able to provide genuine support that will make a significant difference to their everyday lives.

"We look forward to continuing our work through the coalition for the rest of 2022.”

Gordon Brown added: “We are incredibly grateful to the Amazon staff in Fife who have generously given off their time and energy.

"I am also proud of the brilliant innovative Cottage staff. In recent years the Cottage has led the way with a dads’ club, a grannies club and mental health and counselling and with the Christmas appeal which would not be possible without the generosity of local people and companies. The support of the Purvis Group has been exceptional and it is an honour to be working with a whole range of charities from all over Fife to supply goods to families in the greatest need.”