Colgate-Palmolive has joined forces with Gordon Brown’s Multibank charity to help struggling families, with their Lochgelly-based hub among six across the UK receiving free toothpaste and hygiene products for distribution in local communities.
The Multibank operation in Fife connects surplus goods from big companies with local charities who know which families most need support.
Founded by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath with long-standing ties to the area, the charity distributes essentials like hygiene products, clothes and bedding to low-income households.
Colgate-Palmolive has donated more than 500,000 tubes of toothpaste and other personal care items, including deodorant and bodywash, to Multibank centres in Fife, Swansea, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Birmingham and London.
The Lochgelly hub – The Big House Multibank – is already sending supplies out through its network of local partners to families across Fife.
The partnership comes amid growing concern over children’s oral health. Tooth decay is the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged 5 to 9 in the UK.
Gordon Brown, president of The Multibank, said: “We are grateful to Colgate for their leadership in our Multibank coalition of compassion.
"Forty per cent of hospital admissions for children under 10 are for tooth decay.
"By distributing toothpaste and toothbrushes to children across Britain and helping them build the habit of brushing twice a day, we can help them enjoy a ‘Summer of Smiles’ and return to school in the new academic year with greater self-confidence.”
Colgate says it wants to ensure basic oral care does not become an “unaffordable luxury” and is using The Multibank’s Lochgelly base and wider UK network to get essential hygiene products directly to families who are struggling to afford them.
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