Next Steps

“When meeting other women on Next Steps I didn’t realise how many people were going through the stuff I was going through. Different scenarios but the same kind of stories. I liked that because nobody was different to anyone else, and nobody treated each other differently.”

The Next Steps programme provides a safe, supportive space for women, many of whom face challenging life circumstances such as homelessness, substance misuse, gender-based violence, involvement in the justice system, or trauma. These complex experiences often impact their wellbeing and relationships, creating barriers to personal growth and stability.

After an assessment period we support individuals to identify the changes they want to make in their lives and develop goals to help achieve them. During this period, we offer regular community-based outreach support to identify and mitigate against any barriers prior to offering a supportive Wilderness Journey usually in the highlands of Scotland.

The Wilderness Journey focuses on supporting individuals to develop skills and strategies to cope with their situation at home. Further outreach support back in their local community encourages progression and embedding positive changes. We champion prevention and rehabilitation by supporting women involved in criminal justice to tackle complex circumstances and experiences which cause, or may cause them to offend.

By accessing greenspaces and the wilderness, individuals experience the grounding benefits of nature, which clears a busy mind and brings feelings of calm and stability for people who regularly experience high levels of stress and chaos at home. By giving these women time to reflect they build self-awareness around their habits and behaviours and awareness of their environment which may cause them to offend.

Our services provide support for up to 9 months helping individuals to make and sustain connections to services and employment, education, training or volunteering opportunities within their communities.

Note: Venture Trust does not currently work with registered sex offenders or those subject to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

Key information Impact How to refer

Key information

Age range:  16+

Location:  Across Scotland

Who it's for:  Women facing challenging life circumstances such as homelessness, substance misuse, gender-based violence, involvement in the justice system, or trauma.

Impact

The programme is proven to enable participants to reduce their risks of re-offending, and make positive changes in their lives and behaviour.

Monitoring data from the last five years for Next Steps shows that:

82% of participants improved their resilience, confidence and mental wellbeing
80% improved their employability skill
71% showed behaviours and circumstances likely to reduce risks of reconviction
158 got into work, education, training or volunteering

A three-year external evaluation of the Next Steps programme, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, was published in March 2018. A summary of the findings can be found here:

Next Steps Executive Summary 2018

In 2012 the programme was externally evaluated by the University of Edinburgh, who found that:

“The ‘Next Steps’ programme had a positive effect on participants’ personal and social development. The type of positive life changes the women have made include; abstaining from alcohol; desisting crime and taking up (or trying to find) volunteer or paid work”.

How to refer

If you have a question about Next Steps or want to find out more about being referred to the programme please contact us at info@venturetrust.org.uk or call 0131 228 7700.

To make a referral, please complete our webform:

Secure referral webform

Venture Trust’s new client management system uses SSL encryption to secure all data transfers. This encryption is end-to-end, meaning that your data is encrypted from the instant you submit it. There is no point at which the plain text of your data is accessible to third-parties. Submitted data is held on our secure servers, which can only be accessed by authorised staff via password protection. SSL encryption is the internet standard for secure transfer of information, used by banks, credit card companies, statutory authorities.

However, if your policies require you to use these email systems, you can do so using the email addresses below.

For any queries or additional information, please contact the relevant hub co-ordinator using the details below.

Download a programme brochure

Venture Trust Hub	Area	Hub Coordinator Contact Details
East	Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee, Edinburgh, East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, Perth & Kinross, West Lothian	easthub@venturetrust.cjsm.net (secure email) referralseasthub@venturetrust.org.uk
West	Argyle & Bute, Ayrshire (East, North & South), Dunbartonshire (East & West), Glasgow, Inverclyde, Lanarkshire (North & South), Renfrewshire	westhub@venturetrust.cjsm.net (secure email) referralswesthub@venturetrust.org.uk