What We Do
Our Programmes & Services
Four interconnected programmes, delivered in twelve venues across Dundee, meeting people where they are — not where the system expects them to be.
Four interconnected programmes, delivered in twelve venues across Dundee, meeting people where they are — not where the system expects them to be.
At the heart of everything we do is a simple conviction: the distance between a person and the healthcare they need is rarely clinical — it is informational, relational, and systemic. We close that distance in practical ways.
Our advocates sit alongside people in consultation rooms and help them ask the questions they had been too anxious or too rushed to ask on their own. Our workshop facilitators explain what a cholesterol result actually means, or what an NHS complaint procedure involves, in language that is direct and respectful of people's intelligence. Our navigators spend hours on the phone and in waiting rooms tracking down referrals that have gone quiet, benefits that have been wrongly refused, and support services that exist but are not being offered to the people who need them most.
This is detailed, patient, often invisible work — and it matters enormously to the individuals it reaches.
We also understand that individual support alone cannot shift the structural causes of health inequality. That is why we amplify the voices of our service users within local health planning processes, contribute evidence to Dundee's Health and Social Care Partnership consultations, and publish periodic reports on the barriers our communities encounter. We are not a campaigning organisation in the conventional sense, but we believe that the stories and experiences of the people we work with deserve to inform policy — and we make sure they do.
One-to-one support for people facing health appointments, diagnoses, or care decisions they find difficult to navigate alone.
Our trained advocates accompany clients to GP surgeries, outpatient clinics, and multidisciplinary team meetings across NHS Tayside. Before each appointment we spend time with the person to help them articulate their symptoms, concerns, and questions clearly; during the appointment we ensure the clinician communicates in plain language; afterwards we help the person understand any next steps and follow up on referrals.
The service operates on a self-referral and professional referral basis and is free at the point of use.
Refer yourself or someone elseA rolling programme of free community workshops building health literacy and confidence across Dundee's neighbourhoods.
Know Your Health runs in libraries, community centres, schools, mosques, and sheltered housing complexes across the city, reaching communities in Stobswell, Coldside, Lochee, and beyond. Sessions are co-facilitated by our staff and community volunteers, and cover topics including understanding NHS letters and prescriptions, managing diabetes and cardiovascular risk, navigating mental health referrals, and knowing your rights as a patient.
All materials are available in plain English, Polish, Arabic, and Scots, and sessions can be delivered in additional languages on request.
Find a session near youA structured peer support and signposting programme for adults experiencing mental health difficulties, run in partnership with local primary care networks.
The Mental Wellbeing Peer Programme connects people who are on waiting lists for NHS mental health services — or who have disengaged from those services — with trained peer supporters who have their own lived experience of mental health challenges. Groups meet weekly at three venues in the city, supported by a part-time qualified facilitator.
The programme provides structured activities, peer conversation, and guided signposting to statutory and third-sector mental health resources, helping participants remain connected and supported while they wait for clinical input.
Find out moreSpecialist health advocacy and education for Dundee's refugee, asylum-seeking, and newly arrived migrant communities.
Working closely with Dundee City of Sanctuary and local Home Office dispersal accommodation providers, the New Scots Health Access Project helps recently arrived residents register with a GP, understand their entitlements within the NHS, and access maternity, dental, and mental health services they may not know they can use.
Our bilingual community health workers offer home visits, group orientation sessions, and telephone support, and work to ensure that language, cultural difference, and unfamiliarity with the UK health system are never barriers to receiving good care.
Contact our teamWe also understand that individual support alone cannot shift the structural causes of health inequality. That is why we amplify the voices of our service users within local health planning processes, contribute evidence to Dundee's Health and Social Care Partnership consultations, and publish periodic reports on the barriers our communities encounter.
We are not a campaigning organisation in the conventional sense, but we believe that the stories and experiences of the people we work with deserve to inform policy — and we make sure they do.
All our services are free. You can self-refer, or ask a GP, social worker, or community worker to refer you. We aim to respond within two working days.
Get in touch