The Compass mission is to help people to solve the problems of drug and alcohol use, creating healthier lives and safer communities.

We are not a campaigning charity but seek to achieve our mission by delivering recovery-orientated services in communities where the effects of problematic substance misuse are acutely felt.

We aim to direct all our clients into abstinence from problematic drug and/or alcohol use at the earliest opportunity, while recognising that a significant number of individuals may not yet be motivated or be in a position to quit. The priorities for Compass are therefore:

• To enable substance misusers to make informed choices about their consumption of substances, their health and social circumstances
• To motivate and support service users to stop misusing substances
• To maintain the health and social status of substance misusers by reducing the potential for damage from substance misuse
• To reduce the risks of drug and alcohol related harm to the communities in which substance misusers live, including the need to address behaviours that put public health at risk or contribute to offending and the fear of crime
• To guide service users towards complete recovery and facilitate their social inclusion

We seek to make early contact with substance misusers and provide relevant, positive and safe responses to their health and social care needs.

Compass responds to the needs of diverse groups by providing a comprehensive, accessible and flexible response to the health, social, housing and legal problems faced by drug users, This is reflected both in our range of services and in our development of new areas of work.

Our Vision

The Compass vision is to be the best provider of substance misuse services in the UK by having the maximum impact on the lives of the people we help.

Being the best is not a measure of size but of impact. Our role is to help each person to travel as far as they can towards a stable and productive life, free from dependency on substances.

In addition to our work with service users, being the best means maximising our impact for other key stakeholders:

• Commissioners: Being a reliable target hitter that operates openly and in partnership to improve the effectiveness and value for money of the wider treatment systems in which we operate.
• Communities: Understanding and responding to local needs flexibly and accountably in order to minimise health risks and reduce crime.
• Our staff: Enabling and empowering our workforce to improve the distance travelled for our service users and to innovate

Our Values

We are guided to achieve our mission and vision by pursuing our core values:

• Having uncompromising integrity: Maintaining an unstinting commitment to the highest standards of honesty and openness in all our activities.
• Valuing each individual: Respecting the needs of individuals and seeking always to give them greater control over their life.
• Being solution focused: Working always towards the end goal of stable and productive drug-free lives.
• Having a can-do approach: Responding quickly and flexibly to new and emerging needs.