The Multibank charity partnership to support families in poverty
Centrica has announced a new £2.4m, three year partnership with The Multibank charity, of which Gordon Brown is The President, to help households in or facing poverty across the UK. For the first time at this scale, Centrica, while supporting The Multibank, will help them provide further essential household goods to those who need it, and via the British Gas Energy Trust, connect people with direct, targeted energy support to help people stay warm, safe and secure this winter and beyond.
Today, Former Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown and Centrica Chief Executive Chris O’Shea will sit down with Two Doors Down actor Arabella Weir – a Trustee for The Multibank – to discuss this major expansion of support for families experiencing severe material and fuel poverty. The partnership launches at The Big House Multibank hub in Lochgelly, Fife, where Brown, O’Shea and Weir will meet volunteers and frontline charity and family support professional partners to hear about the urgent need for joined up action.
The Multibank charity was started in 2022 and now operates six hubs across the country and works with more than 100 businesses. It has distributed over 14 million essential items – mostly from retail return cycle stock – to more than 2 million families through a network of more than 3,000 local charities. With more than one in five people in the UK now living in poverty, and families increasingly forced into impossible decisions about basic necessities. The Multibank model aims to help ease this pressure.
Centrica will provide cash of £800,000 per year to strengthen The Multibank’s core operations, expand its reach through new satellite hubs, and increase the supply of essential goods such as warm bedding, clothing, baby items, hygiene products and furniture. Crucially, The Multibank and the British Gas Energy Trust collaborating means the creation of new, targeted referral pathways for people who need help – giving families identified by The Multibank’s partners access to energy debt relief, emergency fuel vouchers and white goods grants. British Gas, part of Centrica, has solely funded the British Gas Energy Trust, which is an independent charity, for over 20 years.
This targeted energy support will help more households keep the heating on, replace vital appliances when they break, and prevent crises from escalating.
The Multibank President, Gordon Brown said:
“Britain needs a Coalition of Compassion — government, businesses and communities working together to prevent families falling into hardship. No family should be forced to choose between heating and eating. By linking The Multibank’s local networks with Centrica and the British Gas Energy Trust, this partnership means more families can get the essential goods and support they need alongside immediate help with heating and energy costs.’’
Centrica’s Chief Executive, Chris O’Shea said:
“When people fall behind on their energy bills, they are almost always struggling with everything else too. Poverty doesn’t happen in silos — a broken cooker, a lack of warm bedding or mounting energy debt can tip families into crisis. Working with The Multibank allows us to support families earlier with both essentials and targeted energy help — from emergency fuel vouchers to white goods grants — so they can stay warm, safe and secure this winter and beyond.”
Tracey Talbot, Interim CEO at British Gas Energy Trust said:
“For the Trust, working in partnership and collaboration with charities like The Multibank means we can offer more rounded, practical support for people; combining energy debt relief and emergency support with access to the everyday essentials many of us take for granted. Together we can reach more people, provide support where it’s needed, and make sure no one is left struggling to survive. Working together, we can make a real difference.”
Alice Moxley, Chief Executive of The Big House Multibank Scotland said:
“Since January, we’ve seen firsthand the impact of the partnership with Centrica and the British Gas Energy Trust through the provision of white goods and fuel vouchers. The difference for individuals has been profound – helping people cook, wash clothes, and regain everyday comforts many of us take for granted. We’re proud of this partnership and look forward to continuing our work together across Scotland in the years ahead.”
Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey MP said:
“Tackling the affordability crisis is this Government’s number one priority. That is why we are extending the £150 Warm Home Discount so millions of eligible families will receive it in winter for the rest of the decade, and taking an average of £150 of costs off energy bills from April. This crucial initiative builds on that work – providing vital support to those who need it most, this winter and beyond.”
