5000 hygiene kits donated to Kirkcaldy’s groundbreaking Multibank charity

The kits, which contain essential items such as soap, shampoo, and shower gel packed in a cloth bag, were donated to Fife’s groundbreaking Multibank, co-founded by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Amazon UK in 2022.

The groundbreaking Multibank sits at the very heart of The Cottage’s Big Hoose project in the Lang Toun with a ‘click and collect’ service which now supports over 1000 local charities and professionals including social workers, teachers and midwives who can access goods for free from the warehouse in Lochgelly to get to families.

Kitting events also took place in Amazon’s offices in London, Swansea, Cambridge and Manchester with the aim of packing and donating 30,000 essential kits to the Multibank network across the UK. The events were part of the company’s Global Month of Volunteering.

Pauline Buchan, strategic manager at The Cottage Family Centre, welcomed the donation.

She said: “Too many people in our local community are experiencing poverty and unable to afford the basic essentials so many of us take for granted. These kits will make a very real difference to families in our community who need support during difficult times.”

The Big Hoose Multibank has supported more than 100,000 families in Fife with the donation of over a million surplus goods since it began operating in 2022. Community support organisations, schools and colleges, homeless shelters, and elderly support services in the area have taken delivery of essential supplies from it.

Last month, Scotland’s former Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone was announced as the new chair of the project. He has been joined at the helm of a leadership team by new chief executive Kirsty Thomson, who is leaving her current role as CEO of Dundee and Glasgow based social enterprise The Circle.

The Big Hoose was the first Multibank established in the UK. It was followed by a second site in Wigan in 2023, then a third in Swansea in 2024. The initiative has now donated more than two million surplus essential items to over 200,000 families in need.