The Nest Southwest Community Interest Company

The Nest Southwest is a not-for-profit, social enterprise, community interest company. It was set up in Devon by local women to support other women and girls through the major life transitions of menstruation, pregnancy, birth and menopause by providing social, emotional and informational support. From left to right: Nancy, Jodie & Hazel are The Nest’s 3 co-directors. Scroll down the page to read more about them and The Nest team. Our Vision & Mission Our vision is to live in a world where women and girls feel empowered and fulfilled at each stage of their life. We want to be part of creating a cohesive society where these rites of passage are honoured as gateways of personal development as well as biological milestones. Our mission is to provide social, emotional and educational support, to improve well-being and self-esteem. We support women, girls and people who menstruate through menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. We believe in intersectional feminism by promoting gender justice and racial justice. We are anti-racist and pro-trans rights. We believe in equality for all genders. We offer compassionate peer support, and provide a safe, nurturing environment to explore emotional and physical literacy as we pass through these rites of passage. There is no right or wrong way to go through these gateways, they are as individual as we are. But we don’t have to do it alone. What a different place our world will be if we felt belonging, supported, and respected as we welcomed ourselves to the next stage of life! Our History The seeds of this dream had been swirling for some years before finding a place to land. The Nest was officially registered as Community Interest Company in October 2019 by Hazel Acland, Jodie Wilkerson and Nancy Osborne. Together they launched their first project in March 2020 just as the covid-19 pandemic was sweeping the world. Plans quickly adapted to this new reality and became a weekly online wellbeing group to bring together pregnant and birthing people in the Exeter and East Devon area. The group has evolved to create a perinatal peer support network, training mums to support other mums through matrescence from pregnancy to parenting. The Nest has grown in other areas as well – starting to deliver services around menstruation and menopause support, with much more in the pipeline! Equality We aim to create a safe and welcoming atmosphere. We want to challenge all forms of oppression including those based on race, ethnicity, nationality, faith, gender, sexuality, learning ability, physical impairment, mental illness, age, occupation, income, or wealth. We aim to design our activities, services and decision making processes specifically to encourage and support participation from people who face disadvantage in society, including women, girls, BME people, disabled people, LGBTQI+ people, and people on low incomes. Safeguarding The Nest Southwest CIC is fully committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults. We believe that safeguarding is of paramount importance and that everyone has the right to be safe. We work hard to ensure that The Nest protects and promotes the safety and well-being of all children, young people and adults we work with. All our team members are trained in safeguarding and child protection and have valid DBS checks. The Nest has a designated safeguarding lead who oversees and regularly reviews our training requirements and safeguarding policies. The Nest’s Safeguarding Lead is Jodie Wilkerson (jodie.thenestsw@gmail.com).