Charity



Welcome to the New Start Trust (NEST)


Steve Mills, founder of A1 is also the founder of the New Start Trust (NEST), a charity which provides homes for orphaned and vulnerable children in regions suffering from economic hardship and benefits communities with much needed training in sustainable building technology.

NEST was set up in the 1990’s and focuses on housing orphans and street children in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Zambia. During this time UNICEF estimated that 600,000 children would be orphaned in Zimbabwe by the year 2000.

Today there are more than one million children orphaned by AIDS and approximately 120,000 living with HIV, many of whom end up living on the streets as a result of abuse by carers.

The objective of NEST is to provide good quality homes for those neglected and vulnerable children.

A1, provides NEST with both financial support and expertise in sustainable building technology. Through close relations with a variety of experts in the sustainable building industry, A1 has helped NEST in the research of an extensive choice of techniques and proven building models in order to identify economically and environmentally sound solutions to the world wide housing crisis, removing the dependency on finite resources and specialist labour.

By combining traditional ‘Earth Home’ (Eco Home) building techniques with modern technology and innovative ideas NEST enables communities to build affordable, high quality and permanent homes for themselves.

To find out more about the NEST – the New Start Trust please visit: www.newstarttrust.org.uk


Ashley C of E Primary School


A1 works closely with a number of charities, helping children here in the UK and in Africa, and is also involved in sustainability issues and solutions. A1 is a keen sponsor of Ashley C of E Primary School and is extremely proud of their achievements.

Richard, the inspiring visionary head teacher, is passionate about the environment, sustainability and the education of children in this field. Ashley C of E Primary is a beacon school involving their pioneering community and it has succeeded in reducing its energy consumption by 50% over the past 2 years.

•  Ashley C of E Primary School was a joint winner in the Ashden Award for Sustainable
   Energy 2009.
• Richard, the head teacher, won the Individual Champion for Sustainable Energy Award in 2007. • Richard is a sustainable schools co-ordinator working with local schools, authorities
  and county councils to develop the ‘best sustainability practice in education’, a pilot programme
  for the National College of School Leadership.
• Richard is the creator of the Children’s Carbon Charter for Global Carbon Reduction in
  partnership with the NGO ActionAid.
• Richard is a trustee of the Jane Goodall Institute and developed Jane Goodall’s Roots
  and Shoots Youth Programme, empowering young people to make a difference to the world.

Antarctic Expedition:


To help to raise awareness of climate change, Steve Mills sponsored local head teacher Richard Dunne on two expeditions to the Antarctic where he and his group established an education base run on renewable energy.

Richard is a university lecturer on values, education, personal development and well being and is the designer of an Antarctica values based curriculum for children aged from 9 to 11. He is chairman of NEST, the New Start Trust charity, working to bring new sustainable house building ideas and technologies to the developing world. Their objective is to give communities quality permanent housing for their orphaned and vulnerable children to live in.


Youth work and Youthbuild 2010


Steve Mills is also involved in a new educational and employment initiative for children, who do not fit easily into the education system. This initiative is Youthbuild 2010.

Sympathetic to the plight of our young people who do not enjoy learning in a typical classroom environment, Steve was inspired to set up Youthbuild 2010 in order to provide high quality vocational education for children from the age of 12. The objective is to realise the development of learning, bridging the divide between the present education system and the reality of the work place by offering our young people broader and more varied opportunities.

Through such learning Steve’s goal is to prevent disillusionment with the education system, which can lead to our young people becoming disengaged and excluded from society. The programme also aims to re engage the interest of our young people, already excluded, by presenting them with new opportunities, supporting them in their achievements and offering them real life skills, desirable to employers.


Regenerate UK


Steve is an enthusiastic and dedicated supporter of Regenerate UK, a youth organisation based on Roehampton’s Alton estate. Regenerate works with local teenagers and engages them in projects for the benefit of others inside and outside of their community.

Steve has played a pivotal role in pioneering training initiatives in connection with Regenerate, giving young people living on the Alton estate the opportunity to learn the Earth Home (Eco home) building techniques adopted by NEST, the New Start Trust, so that they can participate in construction projects abroad.

Training our young people to build homes enables them to achieve something immediate and practical, having a direct impact on the lives of vulnerable children in desperate situations abroad. Not only can they be given the opportunity to help to improve the lives of others but they are helped to realise their own potential and value to society.

To find out more about the work of Regenerate UK visit their website: www.regenerateuk.co.uk

Alternatively to find out more about the youth training initiative with NEST visit: www.newstarttrust.org.uk