Around 40,000 Londoners will be helped by the capital’s first multibank which opens on Tuesday.
The scheme in Greenford, west London, is run by the Felix Project charity and will give out more than 400,000 surplus essential goods such as tolietries and bedding over the next 12 months.
Founded in 2016 by Justin and Jane Byam Shaw in honour of their son Felix who died of meningitis in 2014 aged 14, the Felix Project uses surplus food to provide meals to Londoners in need. It was the charity partner for the Evening Standard’s Food For London Now campaign.
Felix’s multibank initiative is supported by Amazon, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Greater London Authority (GLA) to provide essentials including toiletries, baby products, cleaning goods and bedding to families in need.
The GLA has committed £250,000 to help with running costs for the site with £1million of funding also coming from Amazon and Comic Relief.
Five Amazon employees will spend a year on site helping set up the warehouse and it will provide logistics support to transport the donations to community organisations.
Felix Project CEO Charlotte Hill OBE said: “Every day The Felix Project is helping to provide healthy and nutritious meals to people in need across London, but we know it is not just food they want.
“For those on low incomes all items are a struggle to afford, from toiletries and cleaning products to bedding and other household goods.
“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.”
Felix’s Multibank is the fourth Multibank established in the UK by Mr Brown and Amazon.
Mr Brown said: “Having gained experience from the benefits to families of our Multibanks in Scotland, the North West of England and Wales we are delighted now to work with The Felix Project who have such a strong reputation for doing good in the capital.”
