Nice People Doing Nice Things

North Essex Support Team

Proudly registered with the Charities Commission – Charity Number 1191592



What We Do

Find out about all the valuable work that we do and the big impact this has had.



Get Involved

Click here to find out how you can help us – we’d love to have you on board!

w

Contact Us

Here is all of our contact information and details of the areas that we cover.

About Our Charity

N.E.S.T is a small registered charity taking direct action to help struggling families and individuals in our community

269273074_996091720941836_2810903964848810069_n

Our Chairman, Les Nicoll has a background of 50 years with the Essex County Fire and Rescue service, working directly in the community since 2006. In 2019 he was awarded a British Empire Medal for his community work.

In the course of his work as a safeguarding officer he discovered:

^

Children sleeping on the floor or on grubby, soiled mattresses with no sheets or pillows

^

Elderly people sleeping in urine soaked and faeces stained beds and bedding

^

Families in crisis running from terrible domestic or political violence, with all their possessions in a few carrier bags

^

Hungry, poorly clothed children going to school unprepared for winter

“I started using my Facebook page to source beds and bedding for these people and in the first four years was able to help over 400 families and individuals”

Les Nicoll – Chairman, N.E.S.T

As his work became public knowledge the referrals grew and grew to the point where Les was struggling to meet the demands. Then in 2019 some good friends crowdfunded a storage container and rallied round to help.

And N.E.S.T was born!

What We Do

Completely free of charge
AND
Completely free of judgement
TO
The poorest and most vulnerable members of our community

We source and provide:

^

Essential furniture and household items, including beds, bedding and kitchenware. In the past year we have delivered essential goods to over 370 families & individuals. This has included more than 116 Beds and 190 Kitchen Appliances, all saved from landfill!

^

Assistance with adaptations in the home to facilitate the return from hospital of very sick patients and those in receipt of palliative care

78472251_538904886660524_6354823646837473280_n

^

Slow cooker club providing struggling families with slow cookers, basic kitchen equipment & ingredients for 6 hearty meals. More than 115 families fed so far!

^

Christmas Hampers for families in our community. In 2020 we delivered “One Day Free From Poverty” to 151 families, including more than 350 children

^

Winter Warmers events providing warm clothing and bedding for those in need. At the last event we gave away 20,000+ items to over 3,300 struggling families and individuals in North Essex

^

Preloved prom dresses and suits to young people in our community. This year we enabled 100 teenagers to enjoy their school prom without the need for high interest loans

Need should never have a value.

We never sell on our donations and all of our services are completely free.

How can you help?

Donate Time

Volunteer for us, we’d love to have you!

We always need Drivers, Furniture Movers, Donation Sorters, Kitchen Helpers, Food Deliverers, Fundraisers and Shoppers.

Donate Items

We always need clean, good quality household items.

We are HAPPY TO ACCEPT the following:

Beds & Bedding, Towels, Small bedroom furniture, Kitchenware such as crockery, cutlery and pots & pans, Small electrical appliances in good working order.

Regretfully we are UNABLE TO ACCEPT:

Large Kitchen Knives, Glassware, Large items of furniture, Wardrobes Sofas & armchairs, White Goods, Clothing, Tables & Chairs.

Donate Money

All of the work we do is carried out by unpaid volunteers but we need funds to pay for the services we offer free of charge to the most vulnerable members of our community.

Even a very small amount can make a difference to the lives of the people we help.