The Nest

Inspired by founder Hannah's love of the outdoors and her own mental health experiences, The Nest is a charity on an 11 acre site near Framlingham in Suffolk, 

Using The Nest's natural surroundings and resources, we combine a unique mixture of farming, therapy, and community to create an oasis for teenagers and young adults who are struggling.

Animals

We have a variety of animals and livestock whose care will be entirely down to our young people (guided by The Nest team). Whether it's collecting eggs from the chickens, lambing one of our ewes, or mucking out the goats, working with animals helps with confidence, self esteem, and encourages responsibility and achievement all within a nurturing environment.

The Market Garden

Growing seasonal fruit and vegetables is one of the most rewarding jobs. The produce will be used daily and either sold through our farm shop stall, our veg boxes, or used as ingredients for our 'farm to fork' lunches at The Nest. Understanding the value of food in society and about provenance teaches so much about the correlation between effort and reward.

Cooking

Food is a huge part of our daily lives at The Nest. Learning to cook healthy food is a skill that is learnt by all our young people and helps demonstrate the tasty and nutritious alternatives available to all of us. Most of what we will eat together at The Nest has been grown and produced on site. We will cook together, eat together, and we all help clear up. What we consume day-to-day has a huge impact on our physical and mental health, so education around nutrition is integral to our ethos.

Therapy

Our therapeutic approach is woven into everything that we do at The Nest. We will have no structured formal therapy sessions, but will allow our young people the space and time to talk individually or in groups whenever and wherever they feel comfortable to our team of experienced and trained staff and volunteers.