The Multibank initiative co-founded by Amazon and Gordon Brown continues to grow: A new community donations hub called Cwtch Mawr is now offering an emergency service for families experiencing poverty across Swansea.
Cwtch Mawr, which means ‘Big Hug’ in English, is Wales’s first Multibank, providing surplus essentials such as warm clothes, hygiene products, school uniforms, and bedding donated by businesses like Amazon directly to those in need. The products are redistributed via lead charity partner Faith in Families to charity groups and care professionals who can give them directly to struggling families when they require them.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “The cost-of-living crisis has for too many families become a real, day-in-day-out struggle to make ends meet because the money simply runs out before the end of each month.”
“The business partners who have joined our Coalition of Compassion are directly able to alleviate immediate need for warm clothes, hygiene products and essential household items to support those who need them at the time they actually need the help.”
John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK Country Manager, added: “We are delighted to bring together this coalition of partners to launch Cwtch Mawr, Wales’s first Multibank. Our two existing Multibanks are having a huge impact across Scotland and Greater Manchester, helping families in poverty while contributing to a more circular economy by putting surplus products to good use. I’m very grateful to the many colleagues from across Amazon who have brought their logistics expertise, passion for innovation, and dedication to helping our local communities, to this project, and who will enable us to support tens of thousands of families across South Wales this year, and beyond.”
How the donations hub in Wales works
Cwtch Mawr will process donations from a dedicated 6,000 sq. ft warehouse in Llansamlet, Swansea. Amazon helped set up the warehouse operations, providing logistical expertise, tech support, and five team members from its nearby Swansea fulfilment centre will work on-site for the first full year of operation. A range of organisations have provided funding to pay for rent and utilities and to support the recruitment, salaries and training of site staff, including Swansea Council, Pobl Housing Association, and The Moondance Foundation.
“Cwtch Mawr is a collaboration of different sectors wanting to bring hope and support to those who face some of the most challenging situations in life, right here in our communities,” said Cherrie Bija, CEO of Faith in Families. “This big Welsh Hug can be transformational for Swansea and South Wales.”
More free essential goods across the UK
Cwtch Mawr is the third Multibank established in the UK, an initiative co-founded by Gordon Brown and Amazon. The first Multibank launched in Fife, Scotland in 2022 and was followed by a second site in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 2023. The initiative has now donated more than 2 million surplus essential items to over 200,000 families in need. By the end of 2024, the project aims to support more than half a million families from a total of six Multibank sites across the UK.
The Multibank initiative is part of the Amazon’s broader commitment to support the communities in which it operates. Since 2010, Amazon has invested £1.8 billion in Wales and created over 2,000 jobs across the country. Amazon’s Swansea fulfilment centre recently celebrated its 16-year anniversary and in 2022, Amazon opened a global development centre in Swansea, following its acquisition of Veeqo, a Swansea-founded technology company.
Read more about The Multibank’s impact on communities across the UK.
