How volunteers support our vision to build sustainable, resilient communities
The Nest Community offers volunteer opportunities in various programs focusing on sustainability, skill sharing and conservation. By sharing a common purpose through these programs, women make better social connections, which builds a more resilient community.
Exchange Project
Teaching resilience, confidence and community through craft
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.
Hosted in our Gladys Mary Studio surrounded by our heritage collection, the experience is akin to spending time at Grandma’s.
Students learn about sustainability using reclaimed materials and can observe the operations of our social enterprise; The Nest Haberdashery to understand the value of community participation and volunteering. Some even return to volunteer with us.
This program demonstrates the benefit exchange that happens when intergenerational connection is encouraged. Many of the mentees feel empowered and come out of their shells in the course of the program, but our mentors also benefit from having a sense of purpose and giving unconditionally.
Since 2021, 250 girls have participated in this program.
Textile Recovery Centre
Sustainably providing low-cost resources to Brisbane makers
Each week we receive 4000 – 5000 litres of textile-based donations plus equipment like sewing machines, knitting machines and overlockers. To process, repackage, display and resell these donations, we require a weekly roster of 80 volunteers contributing a total of 400 hours.
In comparison to clothing thrift stores where less than 15% of donations get resold, over 60% of our donations are resold and put back into circulation.
To achieve this we’ve developed a training system that refines the process of repackaging, measuring for data collection, presentation and even safety testing equipment. But the success of the program relies on the volunteer’s strong understanding and appreciation of textile and equipment value.
Daily we witness the benefits of intergenerational connections and empowerment as volunteers interact with customers on the shop floor. They pass on their knowledge to the younger generation eager to learn how to make by hand and live more sustainably.
LITRES OF DONATIONS
METRES OF FABRIC RECLAIMED
VOLUNTEER HOURS
Heritage Collection
Preserving historical evidence of women’s craft knowledge and skill
Through the processing stage our volunteers identify significant craft artefacts and pass it on to our heritage collection volunteers for further research.
As the collection has grown we’ve uncovered successful women like Polish pattern designer Johanna Weigel, aka. Madame Weigel, a pioneering business woman who is said to have ‘clothed the colonies’.
Madame Weigel produced patterns from 1878 and catered for the whole family through the full life cycle of birth to matron. Her reach extended throughout the colony using shopkeepers as agents. Her business was in operation for 90 years and in 1915 alone sold over 1 million patterns.
Once part of the education curriculum, our collection also contains embroidery samplers that were used to teach students manual dexterity and coordination. Students gained basic life skills that would enable them to at least repair a button should the need arise.
