Amazon launches cosmetics donation campaign for families experiencing poverty

Popular household brands including Dove, Simple, Vaseline and Huggies are partnering with e-commerce giant Amazon to support struggling families.

Amazon has launched the Multibank initiative, co-founded with former prime minister Gordon Brown and Kind Direct, a charity that ensures everyone has access to products they need to keep “clean, safe and well”.

The multinational tech company has teamed up with Unilever and Kimberly-Clark to deliver over 100,000 hygiene products to families experiencing poverty across the UK.

Starting today (23 May) and finishing on 16 June, for every two purchases on Amazon, from a selection of over 500 personal hygiene products, Unilever and Kimberly-Clark will donate a third to the Multibank initiative and In Kind Direct.

14.5 million people are living in poverty in the UK, according to data from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Many of these cannot afford to feed or clothe themselves or keep themselves clean or warm.

Eugenie Teasley, UK head of impact at Amazon, said: "Our goal is to help as many families as possible by connecting surplus essentials from Amazon and other businesses, with those who need it most.

"Our Multibanks have already supported over 200,000 families in need with the donation of more than 2 million essential items and with this additional support from Unilever, Kimberley-Clark and our customers, we’ll be able to help even more. Donations will also go to In Kind Direct, a charity we’ve proudly supported for more than 15 years."

Multibank is a clothes, bedding, baby and hygiene bank that connects surplus essential goods, donated by Amazon and other businesses, with those who need them, through a network of local charities and care professionals.

Amazon co-founded the UK’s first Multibank with former PM Brown in 2022 in Fife, Scotland. The next was in Wigan in 2023, followed by a third in Swansea, south Wales in 2024. The charity has aided over 200,000 families experiencing poverty via donating more than 2 million surplus essentials.

The new campaign will also support In Kind Direct, which was founded by King Charles III in 1996. The charity works with 6000 charitable organisations across the UK to distribute consumer products donated by manufacturers and retailers. Amazon first partnered with In Kind Direct in 2009.

Chris Barron, General Manager for personal care UK&I at Unilever, added: "The support that the Multibank initiative and In Kind Direct provide is so important, helping households that are facing hygiene poverty to access the daily products that help people to feel clean and confident. We know that together we can do more, so we’re really pleased to be partnering with Amazon and Kimberly-Clark with a shared commitment to get more products to the charities and people that need them most."