The Nest: Shop and Cafe

The Nest is back in Littlemoor on Tuesday 8 December, with its usual mix of a low-cost food shop and a cafe running alongside. It's a not-for-profit collection of community social supermarkets and a cafe run by volunteers, set up to provide cheap, good-quality, nutritious food to families and individuals with limited disposable income across Westham and Littlemoor here in Weymouth.

The Littlemoor Nest now operates out of St. Francis Church, not the Top Club. Its opening hours are Mondays 5.00pm - 7.00pm, Thursdays 3.00pm - 5.30pm and Fridays 10.00am - 1.00pm. The Westham Nest is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10:00 to 13:00.

It's one of Dorset's 'Social Supermarkets' — affordable food and grocery shops that run as food clubs on a membership model and sell goods typically 50-75% cheaper than standard shops. The project has grown to over 1,600 members, with more than 1,350 in Westham and nearly 290 in Littlemoor, and it takes donations from supermarkets including Morrisons, Lidl and Waitrose. Members can self-refer or be referred by a partner organisation, and some may need to prove eligibility to join. The whole thing sits within a wider network of community food initiatives across Dorset and is run with a commitment to reducing food waste.

On the day, the shopping works on a few different tiers: two bags of shopping for £3.50, ten items for £3.50 for individuals, and fifteen items for £5 for families, with free bread, fruit and vegetables on top. There's also the cafe side of things, where you can pick up a light lunch while you're there.