Vibrant Health Advocates – Compass is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation based in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire. We were established by people who had experienced firsthand what it means to arrive in a new town and spend months — sometimes years — piecing together an understanding of local health services through trial, error, and luck. We knew there had to be a better way, and we built it.
Our work is grounded in the understanding that health inequalities rarely begin in a consulting room. They begin in the moment a person does not know which service to contact, cannot navigate an unfamiliar referral system, or feels too uncertain about local norms to advocate for themselves. For people new to Bishopbriggs — whether they have moved from overseas, relocated from another part of Scotland, or simply transferred from a neighbouring authority area — that uncertainty is real, immediate, and consequential. We address it directly, practically, and with genuine warmth.
As a SCIO, every decision we make is governed by our charitable purpose and overseen by a board of trustees who live and work in the communities we serve. We are funded through a combination of Scottish Government grants, East Dunbartonshire Council support, and the generosity of individuals who believe that a well-oriented newcomer becomes a healthier, more connected, more contributing member of our town. We publish our accounts annually and welcome scrutiny, because transparency is part of the trust we ask people to place in us.
"We knew there had to be a better way, and we built it."
Our founders were not professional charity managers. They were neighbours who had lived the problem. That origin shapes everything about how Compass works: the informality of our first conversation with anyone who contacts us; the insistence that we follow up rather than just hand over a leaflet; the belief that trust is built in small, consistent acts over time.
Every member of our team — paid and volunteer alike — understands this from the inside. Many of our navigators were themselves new to Bishopbriggs when they found Compass, and chose to give back once they found their feet. That shared experience is one of our greatest strengths.
Compass began at a kitchen table in Bishopbriggs in 2017, when two neighbours — one a recently arrived GP, the other a community development worker who had relocated from Inverness — started comparing notes on how difficult it had been to work out something as basic as which dental practice was accepting NHS patients, or where to refer a young person struggling with anxiety outside the formal CAMHS pathway. They began hosting informal sessions at Bishopbriggs Library, inviting anyone new to the town to come and ask questions. Twelve people attended the first session. Within six months, those informal gatherings had a waiting list.
It became clear that what the town needed was not just a session or a leaflet but a structured, sustained service — one that treated health navigation as a skilled activity requiring trained volunteers, proper partnerships, and genuine accountability. Vibrant Health Advocates – Compass was incorporated as a SCIO in 2019, received its first Scottish Government Investing in Communities grant in 2020, and has since grown into one of East Dunbartonshire's most trusted newcomer-support organisations.
The kitchen table conversations have not stopped; they have simply moved into community centres, health centres, and village halls — and they reach far more people than two neighbours ever imagined.
Canal towpath, Thursday walk 🍂
Navigator & resident, library room ☕
Orientation session, 2024 📋
Vibrant Health Advocates – Compass exists to ensure that every person who arrives in Bishopbriggs — regardless of where they have come from, what language they speak at home, or how complex their health needs may be — can find, access, and feel confident using the health and wellbeing services that are available to them in East Dunbartonshire. We believe that orientation is a right, not a privilege, and that a community is only as healthy as its least-connected member. By combining skilled one-to-one navigation support with community programmes, digital literacy work, and strong partnerships across the statutory and voluntary sectors, we reduce the time it takes new residents to feel genuinely settled — and we reduce the health inequalities that too often take root in that vulnerable early period after a move.
Compass is governed by a board of trustees who bring together experience in general practice, community development, social work, and financial management — all rooted in an intimate knowledge of Bishopbriggs and the surrounding East Dunbartonshire area.
Our trustees set our strategic direction, safeguard our charitable purpose, and ensure that the organisation remains accountable to the communities it serves. They are supported by a small staff team and a dedicated group of trained volunteer navigators who deliver the direct work. Each trustee brings not just professional expertise but a personal connection to the mission — most have direct experience of navigating health services in a community they were new to.
Whether you are a new resident looking for support, a volunteer who wants to get involved, or an organisation that would like to explore a partnership — we would love to hear from you.