Celebrating 20 years of success for people affected by crime
‘Helping people affected by crime’ – that is what we do and each year we seem to be doing more of it. This past year our grand total of referrals was 172,000.
We continue to seek feedback from victims and witnesses on what they expect from us and how best we can deliver. We have also carried out a survey of our staff and volunteers. Overall results were extremely positive though, unsurprisingly, some areas still need attention. These exercises are an integral part of our continuous improvement programme and are proving to be extremely useful.
Legislation continues to impact on us taking up a great deal of senior staff time. Resources are insufficient for what we would ideally like to do, so much prioritisation is taking place to make sure that the needs of victims and witnesses are being met. I am very much aware of the extra burden this has placed on some staff and thank them for their extra efforts.
A reception in Holyrood Palace in November, hosted by our Patron HRH The Princess Royal was held specifically to mark the significant contribution by volunteers to the work of Victim Support Scotland and to thank them for their hard work over the years.
Our governance structures are, by general agreement, working very well. The Executive Board benefits considerably from its two independent members whilst the National Council is much more inclusive and consultative than before, resulting in better and speedier decision taking. My thanks to volunteers and staff who have helped me directly or indirectly over the year. You have made my job so much easier than it might have been. I look forward to the next twelve months, confident that together we can meet all the challenges we encounter.
Finally I am delighted to announce that HRH The Princess Royal has accepted our invitation to be President of Victim Support Scotland in succession to Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson CBE QC
Ronald Daniel, Chair
