When Faith in Families’ Cwtch Mawr Multibank opened its doors in March 2024, few imagined how quickly it would become a lifeline. In just one year, the project has become a vital source of support – providing essentials from school uniforms and toiletries to bedding, baby goods and cleaning products.
How Cwtch Mawr works
Led by Faith in Families and co-founded with Amazon as part of the UK-wide Multibank initiative, Cwtch Mawr redistributes surplus goods that would otherwise go to waste.
Amazon’s role as co-founder goes beyond donating products – the company provides logistics expertise, staffing and long-term backing. Amazon also helps to transport the donations to community organisations every week through its pro-bono logistics programme, Amazon Local Good.
Alongside Amazon, businesses such as Pura, INEOS, Sofidel, Leekes, Giving World, Dr. Organic, Dove, Lynx, L’Oréal Paris, Nivea and Colgate contribute brand-new products, which are then distributed through more than 120 local partners – from schools and housing associations to health services and grassroots charities. Families are referred through trusted professionals to ensure help is given with dignity and fairness.
Cwtch Mawr’s impact in numbers
An independent evaluation has revealed the scale of change delivered between April 2024 and March 2025:
- £27.7 million in social value created
- £5.90 returned for every £1 invested
- 471,622 items distributed through 116 partner organisations
Voices of support
“Cwtch Mawr is that rare thing in social policy – a service in which everyone is a winner. This Report demonstrates how it has outperformed original expectations right across the range of relevant indicators. Poverty can erupt suddenly into the lives of people who never expected to be in that position – through illness, losing a job or the breakup of a relationship. For others poverty is an insidious process, built up over a long time of having to manage without enough to meet life’s needed. Cwtch Mawr can, and does, help in either circumstance, blending practical action with a never-absent respect for human dignity. As a member of the Welsh Government I am very pleased that we have been a supporter, from the earliest stages. Now on to even greater success in the future.”
“Cwtch Mawr proves what’s possible when businesses, government and communities pull together. We’ve shown that surplus goods can change lives – children going to school with confidence, families able to redirect their money to heating and food, people treated with dignity when times are tough. With nearly £28m in social value created in just one year, the impact far outweighs the investment. Thanks to our partners and funders, Swansea is leading the way in tackling poverty with innovation – and we’re only just getting started.”
Cwtch Mawr: Swansea leading the way
From refugees arriving in Swansea with only flip-flops, to care leavers moving into their first flat, Cwtch Mawr Multibank is proving that Swansea can lead the way in tackling poverty. It’s more than handouts – it’s dignity, innovation, and community at its heart.
