Nest and Grow CIC

Nest + Grow CIC creates opportunities for people and communities through the creation, development, and management of community projects and community programmes that promote social inclusion and social integration for vulnerable adults and children in the community; the development of programmes to increase employment opportunities and enhance skill levels in the community, and providing information, advice and guidance for people who work in the third sector.

Our focus is on delivering mental health and community projects. We have dedicated staff and volunteers committed to positively impacting the communities we serve. Our projects are aimed at people of all ages, from young children to older adults. They are designed to help individuals build resilience, develop coping strategies to manage their mental health, and create opportunities for self-development and social mobility.

How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?

All of our programmes and community projects have mental health built-in as a foundation of our work. As an extension of this, we make sure that all our teams have undertaken specific training and can provide trauma-informed and person-centred support to people facing suicidal ideation.

We help communities and organisations build their resilience and prevention capabilities and train them on how to increase their prevention and intervention support programmes and to have proactive policies and interventions to support the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable groups for whom they have a duty of care.

What are your current priorities?

Our priority is researching, designing, and delivering positive intervention projects at the earliest opportunity, targeting higher-risk groups to address the corresponding risk factors and societal intersectionalities. We create opportunities for community-delivered relief, recovery, and resilience through evidence-based and trauma-informed work.

Our suicide prevention projects align with the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and follow evidence-based approaches to identifying core audience groups for early intervention support: Children and young people; Men; Men who are divorced/faced relationship breakdown; People in underserved areas of deprivation.

What challenges are you currently facing?

Suicide prevention is not new in terms of research or public health priorities, and there has been a lot of funding provided for suicide prevention projects and training. Significant harmful societal beliefs still need to be overcome through education around the language of suicide, the understanding of the mental health of someone in crisis, and the underlying contributing factors and circumstances that have led the person to the point of crisis.