Incentivising community engagement with textile waste

Turbo Rolling Bees

Volunteer to earn textile resources for your community group

Purpose and connection through textiles

Turbo Rolling Bees offered a fun opportunity for team-building, community giving, resource recovery learning and textile therapy. By lending a hand with our resource recovery work, groups were rewarded with a whopping $500 voucher for use in The Nest Haberdashery, equivalent to $1,500 worth of regular retail stock!

This initiative was part of our larger Stitch Together program, giving local community groups access to our textile resources. It provided an experience of volunteering at The Nest and rewarded groups with a large resource voucher for The Nest Haberdashery. From October 2024 to December 2025, we awarded $7500 worth of vouchers for The Nest Haberdashery to 16 local community groups.

Broader community participation diversified our volunteer workforce and increased the volume of textiles we recirculated. This amplified our social impact by getting more low-cost textile resources to people who could benefit from them the most, like schools, tertiary design institutions and community groups.

Although applications for The Nest’s Turbo Rolling Bees 2025 have now closed, we encourage you to register your interest with us.

Purpose and connection through textiles

Turbo Rolling Bees offers a fun opportunity for team-building, community giving, resource recovery learning and textile therapy. The final bonus is that by lending a hand with our resource recovery work, groups are rewarded with a whopping $500 voucher for use in The Nest Haberdashery, equivalent to $1,500 worth of regular retail stock!

The initiative is part of Stitch Together is The Nest Community’s new invigoration program, designed to stimulate broad community participation in reclaimed resources and textile recovery. Funded by Community Bank Samford, part of Bendigo Bank, it provides support and incentives for diverse student and community groups to get involved with textile recovery.

By participating, you’re helping to diversify our volunteer workforce so that we can increase the volume of textiles we recirculate. This amplifies our social impact by getting more low-cost textile resources to the people that could benefit from them like schools, tertiary design institutions and community groups.

Participating groups are welcome to use the resource voucher for their own mission, or pay it forward to another group in the spirit of forging community connections and support.

We want our reclaimed resources to go where they will make the greatest impact. With a limited number of Turbo Rolling Bee sessions available,.the application form asks how your group would use these resources, or if choosing to donate your voucher, which group you intend to support.

So far we have had a P&C Association, a local creative business supporting Girl Guides, the CWA, a Wearable Arts Group and charity sewing group. The sky is the limit and we look forward to seeing who else this initiative could support!

Have a group keen to roll for good? Check out our FAQs below and then apply online.

APPLY

The Application Process

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FAQs

WHERE DO THE TURBO ROLLING BEES HAPPEN?

They are hosted in our beautiful Gladys Mary Studio, adjacent to The Nest Haberdashery in The Sheds precinct, 264 South Pine Rd, Brendale.

Our space is air-conditioned, there are tea and coffee facilities, and toilets just outside. There is ample parking, as well as a cafe and brewery either side of us.

HOW LONG ARE THE SESSIONS?

They run for 5 hours and can be arranged on a day that suits your group, Monday to Saturday. Our recommended timing is 10am to 3pm so that your group can shop afterwards if desired. Our Haberdashery normally closes at 2pm during the week and 4pm on a Saturday, but we are able to remain open for Rolling Bee participants until 4:30pm each day.

WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS TO PARTICIPATE?

Our Turbo Rolling Bees are designed to be intensive fabric rolling sessions. They require a group of 8-10 people with good mobility. There is a minimum of one tub of fabric to be rolled per person, and you are expected to remain onsite for the duration of the session.

Your group is welcome to bring nibbles and light drinks to keep spirits up – and breezy Hip Hops Brewers is available next door to wind down afterwards, with a drink offer available for participants (please note only Wed – Sat).

Participants must work safely and closed in shoes are recommended for your protection.

WHO CAN APPLY FOR A TURBO ROLLING BEE?

Any group with an interest in our reclaimed materials or charitable mission is invited to participate – be it local organisations, community groups, design students or teachers. This opportunity is also perfect for corporate volunteering, as vouchers can be paid-forward to other community groups you may support.