Charity aims to donate household items to families

The Multibank is to be run by the Felix Project, which already supplies food to needy people in London

A new charity initiative is aiming to donate essential household goods to 40,000 families in need across London over the next year.

The Multibank, as it is called, hopes to give out 400,000 surplus items such as toiletries, cleaning materials, baby products and bedding.

It is an extension of a scheme set up by the former prime minister Gordon Brown and online retail giant Amazon, with funding from Comic Relief and the mayor of London.

Initially, Amazon staff will work at the warehouse in Greenford, west London, and will help transport the donations to voluntary organisations across the capital.

The scheme will be delivered by the Felix project, a charity already supplying food to needy people across the capital.

The Mulitbank is an extension of a scheme already operating in Scotland, Greater Manchester and Wales, which sources and gives away new, surplus goods that cannot be sold.

'Greatest need'

Speaking about the project, Mr 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.

"Felix's Multibank will be able to take a holistic view of the overall need of the families they serve and provide some of the non-food basics for those in greatest need across London."

Charlotte Hill, chief executive of the Felix Project, said: "For those on low incomes all items are a struggle to afford.

"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."