The Multibank, Amazon and sports fans join to fight childhood hygiene poverty
Founder of The Multibank, Gordon Brown. The Multibank, a charity founded by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to tackle childhood hygiene poverty, has increased its campaign efforts with multiple collaborations. Hygiene poverty affects 4.2 million people in the UK, according to community initiative The Hygiene Bank.
Amazon has launched a drive for Multibank to bring 250,000 self-care products to families who cannot afford basic hygiene necessities. The drive will run through January, and for every two purchases on Amazon.co.uk, from a selection of over 800 personal hygiene, household and baby products, a third item will be donated to the network of Multibanks across the UK.
During the holiday season, The Multibank worked with Fans Supporting Foodbanks, several sports clubs and The Hygiene Bank to collect tens of thousands of hygiene products at sporting fixtures.
Personal Care Insights speaks to the CEO of The Hygiene Bank, Ruth Brock, and an Amazon spokesperson about recent efforts to curb childhood hygiene poverty and its impact on the UK’s youth.
According to a recent survey from The Hygiene Bank, teachers are spending £40 million (US$48.87 million) of their money to combat the effects of hygiene poverty in classrooms. One in four children (28%) regularly miss school because they or their clothes are not clean.
Ruth Brock, CEO of The Hygiene Bank, says: “We cannot solve this crisis alone. Sector peer partnerships provide immediate relief to those in need and drive long-term awareness, advocacy and action to end hygiene poverty for good.”
“Together, we are working on a future where hygiene poverty doesn’t exist, where no child’s opportunities are limited by the lack of access to basic hygiene products like soap, toothpaste or nappies.”
Hygiene’s impact
The campaign efforts from Fans Supporting Foodbanks and sports fans included an appeal for deodorant, shower gels, soap and other hygiene products. The collection followed concerns that children, especially teenagers, are socially isolating — including from school — for fear of being told they smell.
The Hygiene Bank reports that certain communities are disproportionately affected by hygiene poverty. Fifteen percent of young adults aged 18-24 and 12% of those from ethnic minority backgrounds are affected by hygiene poverty.
Brock says that “hygiene poverty puts people in impossible situations.” Sixty-five percent of parents affected by hygiene poverty have had to choose between buying hygiene products for themselves or their children.
Amazon collects personal care products from its brands and donates them to communities in need.Parents have reported that hygiene poverty has affected their children’s confidence (33%), mental health (30%) and friendships (28%). Children affected by hygiene poverty face bullying and social isolation at school. One in five parents (22%) said that hygiene poverty has impacted their children’s attendance at school, with 19% saying that their children have missed school due to dental problems.
“By saving more products from going to waste or by giving The Multibank services in kind, we can continue to prevent more families from falling into destitution and help reverse the effects of poverty,” adds the Amazon spokesperson.
Industry responsibility
The CEO of The Hygiene Bank says the personal care industry can significantly battle childhood hygiene poverty. Brock encourages brands to donate unused products and samples.
“[The personal care industry should] raise awareness and support initiatives that provide hygiene essentials to those in need. A nice-smelling shampoo or hair dye makes a huge difference to someone who cannot afford basic toiletries, and it will give them the confidence to go out and see their family,” Brock says.
The Amazon spokesperson also calls for industry participation. “We are always looking for other businesses to join our coalition of compassion and donate to The Multibank, which will help us support even more families in need across the UK.”
“By joining forces with our suppliers, we have launched You Buy. We Donate to generate even more donations to alleviate the consequences of hygiene poverty impacting communities across the UK.”
Some brands participating in You Buy. We Donate include Dove, Colgate, Garnier, L’Oréal Paris, Nivea, Tresemme and Vaseline.
Sports fans donated tens of thousands of hygiene products over the holiday season.
Cross-channel participation
Amazon is a founding partner of The Multibank, a charity initiative that redistributes business surplus from Amazon and other companies to families in need via a network of charity partners.
The e-commerce company previously collaborated with Multibank, Unilever and Kimberly-Clark to provide over 100,000 hygiene products to people experiencing poverty in the UK.
Brown, the former Labour leader and champion of the Multibank, says the donations are “making a real difference, keeping hard-pressed families facing the future with some hope of better days ahead.”
“We must now keep innovating how we do charitable work in our communities because too many children need the help right now, and teachers tell us that keeping kids clean and smelling fresh is a priority issue for them.”
To distribute the hygiene products to families in need, transport logistics specialist Palletline provides logistics support for the campaign free of charge. It handles the storage and onward distribution of all donations to The Multibank’s network of regional hubs.
