New charity initiative already supporting thousands

Cwtch Mawr is Wales’s first Multibank set-up to provide new surplus essential goods to those in need.

It is led by Swansea charity Faith in Families with support from Amazon and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Swansea Council is one of the founding funding partners and has helped secured the warehouse it operates from.

So far Cwtch Mawr has supported almost 10,000 different people.

This includes 66 young people, 56 families and 124 individuals directly supported by Swansea Council.

Among those to benefit so far are care leavers moving in to their first homes.

One said: “I have just moved into my new flat and had nothing. Now I have the start-up items I need and can use my money to make the home more personal to me.”

Another added: “I have access to help with my first home but Cwtch Mawr provided extras that I wouldn’t of been able to afford. It’s hard leaving care and the level of support that drops off when you turn 18.”

The surplus essentials provided include warm clothes, hygiene products, school uniforms, and bedding donated by businesses, like Amazon.

The products, which are brand new and not second-hand, are redistributed to charity groups and care professionals who give them directly to people in need, when they need them.

This week Swansea’s cabinet members visited the warehouse to see how it is progressing as it continues to grow.

Council leader Rob Stewart said: “We have heard stories from care leavers who have been supported into their new homes.

“There is a heart-breaking thank-you from a young person who has had new clothes to wear in and out of school and what that has done for their wellbeing and self-esteem.

“Another example is a man who has had a coat for the first time that he can remember.

“For many, these things are taken for granted but for many others during this cost of living crisis they unaffordable and simply out of reach.

“I’m extremely proud that Swansea Council was one of the very first funding partners to come on board and to see the potential for having Wales’s first multi-bank here in our city.

“The aim is to donate more than 300,000 surplus essential goods to 40,000 families in poverty this year and Cwtch Mawr is on track to achieve this.”

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.

(Lead image: Swansea Council)

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