Launch of our new strategy

Today, we’re proud to launch our new strategy, which sets out our renewed vision, mission and priorities for the coming years.

This launch coincides with us marking the 10^th anniversary of the service and so represents a significant milestone for our organisation. It’s been shaped by conversations with survivors, staff, volunteers, trustees and partners, reflecting their experiences, expertise and perspectives, along with input from the wider community who have shared their views as part of our development process.

Context

As a specialist organisation supporting people affected by sexual violence, we know that survivors continue to face barriers accessing support, being believed and finding justice. Over the past 10 years (2016-2026), we’ve supported more than 700 survivors and in recent months, demand for our services continues to grow. This confirms the need for our specialist sexual violence support service here in Shetland and we feel hopeful that our support for survivors and ongoing work across the community is continuing to increase our visibility, build trust, and is helping survivors to feel more confident in reaching out and accessing the support they need.

Sexual violence affects individuals, families, and communities, and we believe meaningful change is possible when communities come together to listen, learn from each other and take positive action. Our new strategy sets out how we’ll continue to support survivors while working to prevent sexual violence and creating lasting change in our community.

Our Priorities

From 2026 onwards, our strategic priorities are to:

• Be Resilient and Sustainable - we’ll build a strong, well-governed and values-led organisation where our people, systems and culture enable long term impact.
• Support and Include Survivors - we’ll work to reach all survivors, be responsive to individuals’ needs and ensure lived experience voices are centred in all our work
• Educate, Prevent and Advocate - we’ll use our voice and expertise to prevent harm before it happens, share our specialist knowledge and advocate for equity and respect.
• Create Change Through Connection - we’ll influence and improve community responses to sexual violence, challenge harmful attitudes and lead positive cultural and systemic change.

A Message from Our Managing Director, Debbie Sangster:

“It’s been a real privilege to join the team here in the last year and to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the service with partners, supporters and the wider community at our recent event. I’m delighted to share our new strategy as part of this important milestone. It reaffirms our dedication and commitment to supporting people affected by sexual violence and reflects what survivors, our team and our community have told us matters most. We’re really grateful to everyone who contributed to its development and excited about what we can achieve together over the coming years.”

Looking Ahead

The launch of this strategy marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our organisation and while it sets out our main priorities for the coming years, our core purpose has stayed the same. We remain committed to supporting all survivors, regardless of what’s happened or when, and will continue to meet people where they are, walk alongside survivors on their journey and work towards a Shetland free from sexual violence. Thank you to everyone who has supported our work so far, but especially to all of the survivors who have reached out to us over the years and have trusted us with their story.

We invite you to read the full strategy here: Compass Centre Strategy - 2026 onwards