Aim and Purpose ## **North Essex Support Team ( NEST)** ## **Our primary aim is to alleviate poverty, by delivering a series of initiatives to support families and individuals employed, retired or on benefts living with poverty.** At the same time addressing illness, dementia loneliness and isolation - **Furniture** : We recycle preloved furniture accepting and collecting beds, chests of drawers, bedding small kitchen appliances, cutlery, crockery, hoovers, irons, bedding, towels, and other sundry items. People in need are referred directly from social care, School welfare officers, doctors, charities, and other structured support agencies. We then deliver completely free of charge these and other items directly to these families. Not only does this service provide Beds for children sleeping on a mattress on the floor, or with parents, or worse of all directly on the floor. It helps families prepare and serve meals. - We also provide and deliver free of charge preloved rise and fall recliner chairs walking aids for elderly and disabled members of our community - Working with Local Hospital, Doctors, district Nurses, social care and Hospice. - Funded by the Local CCG We provide a service moving furniture within the home or, from the home, allowing people to return home from hospital quickly. Or more importantly create space within the home to facilitate the health authority to place hospital beds and ancillary essential items such as hospital beds, hoists or other medical equipment. ##  **Food.** - During Lockdown completely free of charge, we provided and delivered to the doors of the elderly and vulnerable within our community Hot meals three times a week. - Each meal was prepared in a community centre Kitchen by professional Chef’s giving up their time and supported by preparation volunteers. - Each meal was prepared from scratch with fresh meat and vegetables. - The meal was then delivered to the door of our Elderly and vulnerable. This enabled us to have face to face contact, speak directly to our clients, addressing loneliness, isolation. Ensuring they were well and backing this up with a much-used safeguarding visit, carried out generally within an hour of the problem being identified. - This safeguarding visit was carried out by a trained and professional safeguarding officer from Essex Fire and rescue service. - Assessing and liaising with Doctors, Health authorities, Police, friends, relatives, and other support agencies. should there be any problems. - We also prepared from fresh and cooked a full Christmas Dinner served to vulnerable and lonely members of our community. - This meal was delivered by young people from the town, plus local Police cadets creating a bond between young and old - We also provided free Hot meals for families struggling from the loss of free school meals, although quickly discovered families were becoming dependent on these. - In answer to this we developed the **Slow Cooker Club** . - Funded by Local authority grants, plus local businesses, and individuals. - This involved giving our families in need a free slow cooker, plus each week for 6 weeks a recipe card and all the ingredients, to prepare a wholesome meal for their family. - By engaging with partner charities, schools, and local churches this was run out across the whole of North Essex. Reaching some 200 hundred families in total. - **One Day free of Poverty** This initiative recognises that several of the poorest families within our community had absolutely nothing for Christmas, No presents, No celebration food, No heat in the home. - By collecting money from our community plus support from Businesses both local and national. Our local Authority. - We have carried this initiative out for some years. Each Christmas buying a targeted hamper for each family - This Hamper contains everything the family need for a wonderful Christmas day - Including ingredients for breakfast, Turkey vegetables, Yorkshire puds, gravy sauces for a full Christmas dinner. Desert, then Ham, cheese, bread, butter, spreads, cakes Biscuits, sweets and treats for the whole family. - Added to this a community toy collection provides three of four toys for each child in the family. - Finally, Money is given for electric/gas so that families can be warm and cook the food given. Each Hamper is brought, prepared, wrapped, and delivered by Local volunteers and The Essex Fire service. - We also identify that families do not own crockery, cutlery, saucepans. - Worse of all No fridges, freezers or cookers for the last two year a generous benefactor has sponsored us to provide cookers, fridges etc. - In in Christmas 2021 we supported 200 families including our Women’s refuge and the YMCA. - **Clothing** We have identified that families within our community cannot afford to buy Coats and winter clothing, shoes, boots, bedding for their beds, towels for drying themselves (even in Charity shops) leaving children cold, wet, wearing plimsoles in the snow, being bullied at School for, their poverty. Old people being unable to leave their home. More importantly being cold within their home. - To address this, we deliver **Winter warmers.** This involves collecting preloved winter clothing, coats, shoes and boots also bedding, towels and kitchen items. - We place all the clothing on hangers and display just like a very large Charity shop. - The community visit the shop look round find and take as much as they want completely free of charge. January and November 2021 we gave away over 30,000 items to 6,000 families and individuals. - We also, used the opportunity of engaging with the very poorest in our community to signpost to many other support agencies. - Hug in a Bag. We were funded by Essex County council to address Fuel poverty whilst we have provided over 225 families with money for electric/ gas we are also buying very warm indoor clothing Large fleecy hoodies, pyjama trousers, socks, hats, gloves, slippers and blankets. - Receiving referrals from Social Care, Doctors, schools, nurseries, neighbours, charities we create a bag of new warm clothing for each family member. - Which is then delivered completely free of charge to that family in the hope that whilst they sadly cannot afford to heat their homes. We can do a little to keep them warm in cold houses. - **Free prom outfits** As the Prom season approaches Schools, we - noted a rise in Money lenders offering high interest loans to people in our community. - Often doorstep loans with all the consequences they carry. - We have collected over 300 preloved prom dresses, 60+ suits, shoes, handbags, and bling - All of which is taken to local Community centres, displayed on hangers. - Then supported by volunteers shopping teams given away free of charge to young people for their prom night. We also provide immediate emergency targeted Food parcels, cash and electric/gas for families in desperate need out of hours of normal support. Supported By Active Essex facilitated 200 hundred Children to visit a local Iceskating rink, subsidising a hot chocolate drink for everyone. WE continue to provide a link between vulnerable and elderly within our community and relatives living far away. We have collected large quantities of Hygienic products, nappies and sanitary products supplying free to the community. We with community support funded and cleared the garden of a Blind man allowing him to keep his Guide dog. Which was going to be removed as there was no safe place within this mans garden for the dog to be free. We have funded and supported other charities in providing services for the poorest members of our community. Creating and delivering picnics. We have sourced wheelchairs and other walking, sitting, laying aids for disabled adults and children