The Nest Community

The Nest Community is a registered charity the promotes sustainable living practices, hand making skills and skill sharing. Our social enterprise, The Nest Haberdashery, is based on circular economy principles and is a retail outlet for reclaimed textile resources that supports Brisbane's maker community. Our volunteer program is the backbone of our social enterprise and it attracts talented women, many of whom are experienced makers and are invested in the value of the resources we are reclaiming. Through the program the women develop social connections, have opportunities to be part of a team or take on leadership roles. The Exchange Project, is our free mentoring program that teaches hand making skills to vulnerable teenage girls. Partnering with local high schools, students are matched with our more mature volunteers who share their skills to teach the young girls resilience and self confidence. The Exchange Project is hosted in our workshop space, Gladys Mary Studio where we house our heritage collection of craft and sewing ephemera. We also use the space to run our workshop program where we support local makers to run craft workshops and start their own small business. Our vision is to foster intergenerational connections by creating a resilient community of women and provide opportunities for them to connect purposefully through craft.