Programs

How volunteers support our vision to build sustainable, resilient communities

Exchange Project

Mentoring program for vulnerable high school girls

The Exchange Project was developed as a partnership between The Nest Community and local high schools where we could offer free mentoring and support to vulnerable young women.

Up to eight participants per school are selected by school guidance officers to attend weekly sessions at The Nest Community during the semester. They develop skills in sewing, embroidery, and other craft projects and work with one to two mentors at a time.

Our objective is to provide a safe nurturing space outside of the academic environment.

Since 2021, 250 girls have participated in this program.

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Textile Recovery Centre

Recirculating textile resources to the community

Participating in our resource recovery program, volunteers process textile donations to stock our social enterprise, The Nest Haberdashery. Founded on circular economy principles, it aims to encourage the community to use reclaimed resources and benefit from access to low-cost supplies.

Each week we receive 4000 - 5000 litres of textile-based donations plus equipment like sewing machines, knitting machines, overlockers, spinning wheels, tapestry frames, mannequins and more. To process, repackage, display and resell these donations, we require a weekly roster of 80 volunteers contributing a total of 400 hours.

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Heritage Collection

Preserving craft history

Larger donations often come to us as deceased estates and our textile recovery program offers grieving families a recycling alternative to just disposing of resources in landfill. They are also comforted in the knowledge that we value the resources as much as their loved one once did.

Through the processing stage our volunteers identify significant craft artefacts and pass it on to our Heritage Collection volunteers for further research.

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Stitch Together

Community Engagement Program

Stitch Together is The Nest Community’s invigoration program designed to stimulate broad community participation in textile recovery and reclaimed resources. It aims to support and encourage various sectors of our local community to get involved in textile reuse through creative initiatives.

Community Bank Samford, part of Bendigo Bank, shared our vision and awarded The Nest Community a $50,000 grant to pilot various initiatives from our digital newsmagazine ZIGZAG, to Volunteer Appreciation Awards, opportunities for community groups, free resources for Secondary Students and Emerging Designer Bursaries.

Applications are currently open for one exciting initiative - our Turbo Rolling Bees. This is a hands-on team-building experience rewarded with a voucher that could buy your group 100mtrs of our fabulous preloved fabric!

Turbo Rolling bee

Craft Stall

Fundraising through handmade giving

Since our early days as a grassroots organisation, The Nest Craft Stall has been integral to our fundraising activities. Using our reclaimed resources, volunteers made items to sell at pop-up stalls in local shopping centres. Today our organising committee, Red Robins, continues the tradition. We host regular events in our Gladys Mary Studio throughout the year, helping us to fund the Exchange Project, our free mentoring program to teach vulnerable girls self confidence and resilience through handmaking.
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LEARN 2

Empowering people to make by hand

Craft workshops have been a part of The Nest Community since it was founded in 2014. In the past they ranged from ‘How to make Kokedamas’ to Mexican Embroidery and even Indigo dyeing. Today our focus is on textile resource recovery and our Learn 2 program complements this by getting people started on their crafting journey. Limited to sewing, crochet and knitting, people can pick up the basics, and shop for low-cost resources afterwards. Our volunteers in The Nest Haberdashery also provide ongoing encouragement, always ready to give some tips and share their skills.
LEARN MORE

Exchange Project

Mentoring program for vulnerable high school girls

The Exchange Project was developed as a partnership between The Nest Community and local high schools where we could offer free mentoring and support to vulnerable young women.

Up to eight participants per school are selected by school guidance officers to attend weekly sessions at The Nest Community during the semester. They develop skills in sewing, embroidery, and other craft projects and work with one to two mentors at a time.

Our objective is to provide a safe nurturing space outside of the academic environment.

Since 2021, 250 girls have participated in this program.

LEARN MORE

Textile Recovery Centre

Recirculating textile resources to the community

Participating in our resource recovery program, volunteers process textile donations to stock our social enterprise, The Nest Haberdashery. Founded on circular economy principles, it aims to encourage the community to use reclaimed resources and benefit from access to low-cost supplies.

Each week we receive 4000 - 5000 litres of textile-based donations plus equipment like sewing machines, knitting machines, overlockers, spinning wheels, tapestry frames, mannequins and more. To process, repackage, display and resell these donations, we require a weekly roster of 80 volunteers contributing a total of 400 hours.

LEARN MORE

Heritage Collection

Preserving craft history

Larger donations often come to us as deceased estates and our textile recovery program offers grieving families a recycling alternative to just disposing of resources in landfill. They are also comforted in the knowledge that we value the resources as much as their loved one once did.

Through the processing stage our volunteers identify significant craft artefacts and pass it on to our Heritage Collection volunteers for further research.

LEARN MORE

Stitch Together

Community Engagement Program

Stitch Together is The Nest Community’s invigoration program designed to stimulate broad community participation in textile recovery and reclaimed resources. It aims to support and encourage various sectors of our local community to get involved in textile reuse through creative initiatives.

Community Bank Samford, part of Bendigo Bank, shared our vision and awarded The Nest Community a $50,000 grant to pilot various initiatives from our digital newsmagazine ZIGZAG, to Volunteer Appreciation Awards, opportunities for community groups, free resources for Secondary Students and Emerging Designer Bursaries.

Applications are currently open for one exciting initiative - our Turbo Rolling Bees. This is a hands-on team-building experience rewarded with a voucher that could buy your group 100mtrs of our fabulous preloved fabric!

Turbo Rolling bee

Craft Stall

Fundraising through handmade giving

Since our early days as a grassroots organisation, The Nest Craft Stall has been integral to our fundraising activities. Using our reclaimed resources, volunteers made items to sell at pop-up stalls in local shopping centres. Today our organising committee, Red Robins, continues the tradition. We host regular events in our Gladys Mary Studio throughout the year, helping us to fund the Exchange Project, our free mentoring program to teach vulnerable girls self confidence and resilience through handmaking.
LEARN MORE

LEARN 2

Empowering people to make by hand

Craft workshops have been a part of The Nest Community since it was founded in 2014. In the past they ranged from ‘How to make Kokedamas’ to Mexican Embroidery and even Indigo dyeing. Today our focus is on textile resource recovery and our Learn 2 program complements this by getting people started on their crafting journey. Limited to sewing, crochet and knitting, people can pick up the basics, and shop for low-cost resources afterwards. Our volunteers in The Nest Haberdashery also provide ongoing encouragement, always ready to give some tips and share their skills.
LEARN MORE