New Start was formed in 2000, initially as a Starter Pack service, as a community response to homelessness in the Inverness area. Our underlying aim has always been to help individuals discover their potential and use it to make positive changes to their lives.

The growth of our holistic service has developed around the needs of people in Highland. We now offer furniture, electrical and household items that are needed to make a house a home. Last year alone we helped over 2,000 households and delivered nearly 12,000 items to people throughout Highland.

Our growth has meant an increased contribution to re-use and recycling in Highland. Last year we prevented over 750 tonnes of household goods from going to landfill.

In 2003 we recognised that the provision of starter packs and furniture alone were not enough to sustain a tenancy, so we created our housing support service. We now support around 60 clients at any one time in successfully sustaining their tenancies.

In 2006 we opened our purpose built Service and Reuse Centre Inverness, enabling us to expand our service delivery within Highland.

We have continued to develop our holistic support by further expanding our services to offer employment training. Our training blends a practical mix of experience and qualifications across all areas of New Start, including warehousing, electrical repair, painting and decorating, and retail. Our aim is to enable the building of people's confidence and range of skills.

New Start is strengthened by our fantastic team of highly motivated volunteers filling the 60 structured placements we offer. Our volunteers include individuals who have used our service, skilled professionals, and people who are employed, unemployed or retired. They bring their commitment, skills and resources and in doing so help improve the viability and vitality of our community.

2010 saw us continue to adapt our services to meet the need of people in the Highlands. This has included incorporating a bike refurbishment project, enabling us to further extend our re-use capacity and training opportunities.

As we continue to position ourselves to best meet people's needs across Highland, we have opened three Rural Service Centres in Fort William, Kinlochleven and Invergordon.

We are currently building a new Enterprise Centre and an additional warehouse in Inverness. The Enterprise Centre will include starter units for leasing by four other organisations who will have access to our knowledge base to help them develop, become more sustainable and deliver their promise to the community.

Since we began, we have become firmly established within our local community, allowing us to make positive contributions socially, economically and environmentally. We are now very well positioned to continue to meet the needs of our clients, with our focus continuing to be on providing a complete package of support to individuals and families throughout Highland and by doing so, helping them to create their own opportunities for a sustainable future.