Charities and Amazon get together to support needy families

Former prime minister Gordon Brown said the project was ‘the biggest charitable anti-poverty project in Fife in decades’.

The project will help needy families (Dominic Lipinski/PA) (PA Archive)

Thousands of needy families will receive goods ranging from toiletries to clothing in a project involving Amazon and charities including one supported by former prime minister, Gordon Brown

Amazon has so far donated about 10,000 items to the Cottage Family Centre for the Big House Fife Project which is being run in association with other Fife charities.

Donated items range from toilet roll, nappies, wipes and toiletries to clothing, backpacks, home furnishings, lightings and electrical products.

Charities can make referrals on behalf of the needy for the household goods they need, which will then be processed by the Amazon project team and made available for collection by the charities to be delivered to families.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown said the project is making a difference (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Archive)

The Cottage Family Centre, based in Kirkcaldy supports some of the most vulnerable children and families in the town and surrounding areas.

Its patron, Gordon Brown, said: “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.

“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, people are under more pressure than ever. We estimate that over 13,000 families could be helped in the first year.”

He added: “Communities are at their best when they are working together to make sure everyone is supported.

“I would like to thank Amazon, the Cottage Family Centre, the coalition of charity partners and the many people working on this project who have created a successful and scalable model which directly reaches those most in need across Fife by donating and delivering thousands of products to them.”

The Co-op and Scotmid have also offered to help supply goods to families.

This project will enable families to make their house a home

Pauline Buchan, the Cottage Family Centre

Amazon has provided a £150,000 grant along with logistics expertise to help create a new project site in Lochgelly, Fife, which will work with a coalition of charity partners to deliver the goods to local people.

All donations are being processed at a new warehouse in Lochgelly, which has been provided free of charge by Bob Purvis, chairman of the Purvis Group, to help facilitate the project.

In addition to hundreds of thousands of future product donations, Amazon will provide pro-bono volunteers at the charity coalition warehouse until the end of June 2022, and will provide “senior team oversight” with volunteers from Amazon’s Dunfermline Fulfilment Centre.

Pauline Buchan, manager of the Cottage Family Centre, said it has been a “huge boost” to work with Amazon and fellow coalition partners to help so many families in need.

She said: “I have seen first-hand the way these donations can make life that little bit easier for people and thank Amazon for its continued commitment to supporting families across our communities. This project will enable families to make their house a home.”

Organisations that have collected goods via the coalition so far include Children’s Clothing Bank Dunfermline, Fife Women’s Aid, Kirkcaldy Foodbank, Autism Rocks (Fife), various local Home-Start centres and Fife Alcohol Support Service along with 10 Fife Council charity sectors.

John Boumphrey, UK country manager at Amazon, said: “Our team in Dunfermline is working side-by-side with the charity partners to fulfil the needs of their service users.

“As a result, we are delighted to say that we have already supported 3,500 more families in Fife since starting deliveries at the end of last year, and we look forward to helping many more people in 2022.”