Nested (formally Rehouse to Rehome) was registered as a charity in 2018 but the story which laid the foundation for its launch is older and runs deeper. Motivated by a desire to help individuals come out of difficult and desperate circumstances and enable them to bring about real and positive change in their own lives.
Our Story
In the Beginning...
Francine Wright, the founder of Nested started bringing about positive change when she decided to take to the streets of Sheffield to see how she could help the hundreds of people who found themselves in a position where they had no access to shelter and were forced to live on the streets.
Francine came to a realisation that it would take more than simply distributing essentials to improves people’s situations. The causes and events leading to rough sleeping were deep rooted and, until they were eradicated, even providing someone with a roof over their heads would not help.
Through talking to and connecting with the people living of the streets of Sheffield, Francine discovered that there was a distinct group within that community that was fleeing domestic violence. What was even more disturbing was that a considerable number of people from this were considering returning to the situation they had left, not only due to the hopelessness of their current situation but the prospect of difficulties even after being rehoused by authorities.
Francine was confused at the prospect that a survivor of domestic violence would consider returning to their previous situation after being re-housed and decided to dig deeper into the complexities surrounding this issue.
Over a period of many months, Francine spent most of her evenings and nights on the streets of Sheffield. She took food, warm and clean clothing, toiletries and essentials and sleeping bags to those in absolute need.
It didn’t take long for Francine to realise that, although sleeping on the streets was the most outwardly visible sign of being homeless, ending up in this situation wasn’t always a simple case of not being able to afford a home. The problems and issues leading to people resorting to sleeping rough ran much deeper and were complicated.
What she discovered was staggering....
Many people who are being abused were reluctant to leave an abusive household for fear of being re-housed and left in a property which was nothing but shelter and not having any basic practical amenities to live. Survivors were sometimes given an empty property with no furniture, cooker, washing machine meaning that it was impossible for them to have an operational home.
Particularly for those fleeing with children, this left them in a situation where they were unable to have access to even the most basic functions of day to day life.
Francine was shocked to learn that, even after gathering and showing the immense courage it takes to walk away from an abusive household, survivors of abuse were considering returning to their previous situations due to the absence of these very practical and basic but vital amenities.
Francine believed that there was opportunity here to help and make a real difference to the lives of many survivors of domestic abuse, simply by supplying them with basic household goods to set up new homes.
From this desire to empower survivors of abuse to move forward in life and create stable and secure homes, Nested was formed.
For a second year in a row, Claremont Private Hospital in Sheffield announced us as their charity of the year. We are so very proud and grateful!
Claremont Private Hospital in Sheffield announced us as their charity of the year, an achievement we are extremely proud of. All of us at Nested are eternally grateful to all at Claremont for their kindness and support, helping us to help many others.
All of us at Nested are truly thankful to Nether Edge WI for making us their charity of the year, and we are eternally grateful for their kindness and support, helping us to make a positive difference to many people and families.
“Francine and her team were put forward for WI Nether Edge members in Sheffield to vote, because we have followed the Facebook page and it very much highlights how much domestic abuse is happening and we want to help and support Francine support all the deserving women and families.
We are very pleased and happy to announce that Nested (formally Rehouse to Rehome) has been chosen by members to be our charity to support for 2020!”
Help us reach more people
It’s only with your help that we can continue to help survivors of domestic violence get a fresh start in a new home away from their abuser.
Families with children fleeing domestic violence have to leave all of their belongings behind and run for their lives.
Let’s make sure they are not only safe, but in a home.
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