The Nest Community Shop
The Nest was set up to provide support for people in Weymouth, particularly by giving people in need access to healthy and affordable food. They also offer volunteering opportunities to members of the local community who are long-term unemployed, or who have suffered serious mental health issues, to help them get back on their feet.
Their main aims are tackling hunger within Weymouth, reducing food waste, and aiding members of our community in improving their skills and employability. They provide cheap, good quality, nutritious food to families and individuals who have limited disposable income. They are a not for profit shop serving the local Weymouth community.
The Nest Community Shop opened on 17th November in East Boro's Waverley Community Centre on Abbotsbury Road in Weymouth. It is open from 10am to 2pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and Nest members can visit once a week. The shop is only open to Nest members, who are families and individuals with limited disposable income. It is not a foodbank, and Nest members are not generally people who are in real crisis, they are just people who week on week struggle to pay for everything.
Anyone who would like to become a member can either be referred by one of Nest's partner organisations or can self-refer themselves, which involves getting in touch and arranging an appointment to come into the shop and sign up. They will then sit down with one of the team to fill out a membership form. During this process they will be asked for verification that the person has limited disposable income. There are no strict criteria for this, but things like receiving universal credit, or another income-based benefit, or receiving free school meals, or working with a debt charity, would automatically qualify a person. If somebody doesn’t do any of these, but still has limited disposable income, they should get in touch as there are other options available.
Nest want their food to be as affordable as possible, so they aim for members to pay roughly a third of the prices they would pay in a normal supermarket. Members will pay £3.50 to choose 10 items from the shop. For this price they also get bread and fruit and possibly other extras too, depending on availability. Households with 3 or people in them will have the option to instead pay £5 for any 15 items of their choosing, as well as all the extras.
If you would like to become a member, or are interested in finding out more,
Call or text 07724 285851,
Message Nest's Facebook page @thenestweymouth
Email thenestweymouth@gmail.com
Date Posted: Tuesday 12th January 2021 @ 14:50
