A labradoodle puppy named Bowie is helping The Brick to reduce the stigma some people feel about needing help.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Some of these stories, honestly, they do, they break your heart.
00:03Without this incredible support, I don't know what we would do.
00:06I have no money at the moment, I'm really struggling.
00:10I just wish that I could speak directly to the people from The Brick
00:14to make them understand just how much their kindness meant to me.
00:23MultiBank is a one-stop shop
00:27where we receive items that are surplus to businesses.
00:30We distribute, obviously, anything and everything
00:34that people might need day to day to live your life
00:37and they are things that we probably all take for granted.
00:39Poverty now is massive and it affects so many different people
00:44that we wouldn't expect.
00:46There's people who are working two, three jobs
00:49who are in these circumstances.
00:52There's parents that aren't washing clothes frequently.
00:55It isn't because they don't care or because they don't want to.
01:00Simply, they cannot afford to go.
01:02It's £6, £7 now for a box of laundry detergent.
01:06That is a huge amount of money out of someone's budget.
01:09We know mums wash things in the bath,
01:12they try to use things like washing up liquids.
01:14A child going to school knowing that their clothes smell,
01:17it's heartbreaking.
01:21We make sure that people are treated with dignity.
01:25We don't brand our vans.
01:27So when our vans go out delivering,
01:29nobody feels that it's a charity van.
01:32We even have a brick dog, Bowie the dog.
01:36He's there really to bring that little bit of joy.
01:40He goes out on the van.
01:41Ollie's absolutely wonderful and his dog just makes everyone smile
01:47and that's what we want to do.
01:48We want people not to feel embarrassed.
01:51There's no shame when that brick van turns up.
01:54Every pound that gets donated to the brick
01:57means we can distribute more goods
01:59so that we can help more families.
02:01We are coming up to Christmas
02:03so if we can make sure that families can afford
02:07that little bit of extra money at the end of the month
02:09to buy those presents for those children
02:11because we've provided the toilet roll,
02:13because we've provided the laundry detergent
02:15and I think we're making a huge difference
02:17because it gives family, it gives a mum and a dad
02:22loads of pride on Christmas Eve
02:23to be putting their present under the Christmas tree.