The ex-PM is opening the new facility supplying food and basic necessities against a backdrop of concerns for the wellbeing of children over the summer holidays

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/25421967

The first “multibank” in London, distributing everything from basic foods to baby products and toiletries, will be officially launched this week, amid continued concerns about levels of poverty as the school summer holidays begin.

The opening of Felix’s Multibank, which has the backing of former prime minister Gordon Brown and London mayor Sadiq Khan, is the latest in a growing network of multibanks.

Brown said the new project was opening at a time when the country’s approach to the problem of destitution would change. There have been continued calls from within Labour for Keir Starmer to take stronger action on child poverty.

Brown said: “The London Felix Multibank is the fourth of six that will be opened by the end of this year across Britain. It is opening at a time of transition from a Britain where child poverty has risen dramatically to one where we wish to see child poverty falling.

  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    1•4 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The first “multibank” in London, distributing everything from basic foods to baby products and toiletries, will be officially launched this week, amid continued concerns about levels of poverty as the school summer holidays begin.

    “As a new anti-poverty plan is being prepared, the multibanks still need to secure more supplies and more funds from generous donors so that, working with food banks, we can provide poverty relief.”

    Thousands of families are set to be helped by the new scheme in west London, overseen by the Felix Project, which sources surplus from the food industry that would otherwise go to waste.

    Advocates of the multibank model say that it can be a powerful addition to fighting local poverty by redistributing stock that cannot be sold and taking donations from the corporate world.

    However, there continues to be concern among charities about the degree to which food banks and related projects have now become a permanent fixture in relieving hardship as a result of cuts to the welfare state.

    He added: “That’s why I pledged to support the introduction of multibanks in the capital as part of my work to help Londoners who are struggling to make ends meet.

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