About Us

 

Our Story or The amazing people, mission and vision behind our community

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Our Mission

We honour our crafting heritage by coming together in a safe and supportive community space for women to share their knowledge and skills to create and produce handmade items using reclaimed resources.

Our Impact

Australians are creating more waste than ever, so we need to reduce both the rubbish that enters our environment and the waste we send to landfill.

Our Haberdashery Thrift Shop has saved over 64 tonnes of craft resources from ending up in landfill. We have sold enough reclaimed fabric in our Haberdashery to stretch from Brisbane to Toowoomba. We have delivered over 800 workshops to teach women how to embrace handmade living to upcycle these resources  and thus begun  to educate future generations of  an alternative to the cycle of consumerism.

 In society we see many women of all ages feeling isolated and lacking social connections.   In our younger girls we recognise the impact that COVID-19, online learning, family instability, and difficulties at school have had on their mental health and emotional wellbeing.  We also recognise the high rates of self-harm and suicide in our younger generation, with 35% of young deaths being attributed to suicide ( source Australian Institute of Health & Welfare) .  Generational unemployment and homelessness also have an impact on youth.  For these reasons, we believe the mentoring in our safe space gives the students the opportunity to grow and break the cycle.  

In the past eight  years:

  • we have created 332,500 hours of social connection between women. 
  • we have delivered 800 workshops to teach over 4,000 women how to embrace handmade living and upcycle reclaimed resources.  This begins to educate future generations in an alternative to the cycle of consumerism and fast fashion and instils lifelong practices to support health and wellbeing.
  • over 100 students have participated in The Exchange Project.

As well, ten young people have joined the Junior Volunteer Program as at the end of 2022.  These Junior Volunteers are learning the benefits of volunteering for themselves and their community.

Our History

Our Board

The Nest Community board comprises five genuinely talented women who are focused on the strategic growth of our community’s social enterprises. The common thread between these women is that they have built their careers and enterprises with sheer determination in the face of adversity. These women bring to the table a diverse range of business and leadership acumen, together with the skills and capability to advance our core values through our programs, services, and charity partners. And most importantly of all, they are passionate about making a positive difference for women through connecting with creativity and community.

Roz Foley Fenson

Chief Executive Officer / Co Founder

Margot McLay

Chair

Lisa Wilkinson

Secretary 

Trish Holliday

Treasurer

Mary-Ann Strelow

Our Operations Team 

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

The backbone of our organisation is an extraordinary group of women who volunteer to work together to coordinate the massive machine that is required to manage our volunteer workforce. Their combined handmade living skills, leadership qualities and professional backgrounds make them essential leaders within our social enterprises and valuable facilitators in the delivery of our workshop programs. There are so many but here are just a few.

Maryanne Hambrecht

Volunteer Craft Stall  Program Coordinator

Kerry Curry

Volunteer Haberdashery Shift Leader

 

Jacqueline Wilson

Volunteer Haberdashery Shift Leader

 

Kay Byrne

Volunteer Haberdashery Leader &  Onboarding Officer

Lou James

Volunteer Haberdashery  Shift Leader

Mary Brady

Volunteer Workshop Facilitator

Lynne Wynbergen

Volunteer Workshop Facilitator

Sharon Oldfield

Volunteer Haberdashery Shift Leader

Roz Fenson

CEO & Co Founder

Pauline Stockwell

Volunteer Workshop Facilitator

Sarah Dally

Volunteer Workshop Facilitator

Gladys Foley

Volunteer Craft Product  Coordinator

Addy Taylor

Junior Haberdashery Volunteer

Monica Pattison & Gwen Bell

Education  &  Workshop Coordinators

 

Maryanne Gibbins

Volunteer Administration Officer

Christine Matheson

Volunteer Exchange Program Mentor

Barbara Landels

Volunteer Communication Program Coordinator