Are there other sources of support I can access by telephone that might be helpful for me to use when the helpline is closed? Expand There are other sources of support that provide listening and understanding, both specifically about self-injury and about other issues please see the list below for suggestions. Alternative Sources of Support The SamaritansHelpline - 116123 (FREE to call)24/7 support for anyone in distress. MIND InfolineCall 0300 123 3393 or text 86463Information about a wide range of mental health issues.Open 9am-6pm, Mon-Fri. National Rape CrisisHelpline - 0808 802 9999 (FREE to call)Open 12-2.30pm and 7-9.30pm daily.
What if I tell you about someone who is hurting me or someone else? Expand If you have told us who and where you are and you gave us details of someone who is abusing you or someone else, we would have to pass that on to the authorities. We would let you know that we would have to do this. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. We are not able to trace calls, IP addresses or your location. If you have told us who and where you are and you ask us to report a situation where you are at risk we can do this. However, as we are only open limited hours we recommend the agencies below who are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are set up to do this. Women’s Aid National Domestic Violence Helpline - 0808 2000 247 (FREE to call) Childline Helpline - 0800 1111 (FREE to call). Help and advice for young people about a wide range of issues. Webchat and email support is also available. The Police 999 (emergency number) or 101 (non-emergency number)
What if I am feeling suicidal? Expand Lots of women who contact us feel suicidal. We can support you and listen to your feelings about not wanting to live. If you have taken something or have injured yourself and you are concerned we would hope that you would contact emergency services. If you have told us your name and where you are and that you have taken action towards suicide or intend to right away, we would have to contact emergency services for you. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. We are not able to trace your call or find out where you are. We hope that if you are still contacting us then a part of you wants us to listen and we will do that while we are open and give you details of other organisations to contact when we are closed.
What if I have hurt myself a lot? Do you give medical advice? Expand We are not medically trained and do not give any kind of medical advice. If you have hurt yourself and you were worried, we would encourage you to seek medical attention by calling an ambulance or going to A&E or other medical support. If you are unsure what to do, you can call 111. They can give you medical support over the phone and advise you on what to do. If you have told us who and where you are and we think that what you have done has put you at risk of significant harm or death, then we would have to call an ambulance. We understand this might be frightening, but we will support you until we close. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. We are not able to trace calls, IP addresses or your location. You can find more information on harm minimisation and wound care by following these links: Limiting Damage/Harm Minimisation First Aid Caring for Wounds and Scars
What if I don't want to stop self-harming? Expand We understand that self-harm is a coping strategy for many women who contact us and we don’t expect you to stop using self-harm unless you want to. We can support you to talk about how self-harm helps you – it is entirely up to you what you want to talk about.
What if I want to stop self-harming? Expand We always offer support around how you feel, but if you are looking to understand your self-injury, learn other coping strategies or ways of trying to stop self-harming we can support you with this too. We have lots of experience of working with self-harm and understand it is not easy to stop. We also understand that even if you have moved away from self-harm, you may still think about it or have urges to go back to it. We can support you with that too. For further help you could also try looking at our 'How do I stop?' advice and information page.
I don't know if what I do is self-harm. Can I still contact you? Expand Self-harm is a very broad area and our services are open to anyone who feels they could help them. We don’t ask people to say what they do and we don’t ask you to justify contacting us. If you feel we could help you then you are very welcome to call or send a message via our text webchat and email support service.
What if I get really upset? Expand Lots of women who call us are very distressed and experiencing difficult emotions. We are here to listen to whatever you want to talk about and it is OK if you are feeling very upset or distressed.
What if I don't know what to say? Expand You don’t have to say anything when you call us – we know that it can sometimes be very difficult to know where to start or you might feel very upset or anxious. We will stay on the phone with you whether you talk or not and understand that making a connection with someone else in silence can be helpful.
Do I have to talk about self-harm? Expand No – we understand that for many women self-harm is a way to cope with other things that have happened or very strong feelings and that it may be useful for you to talk about those things. All of our volunteers have had specialist training around self-harm and will support you to talk about whatever you feel is useful when you get in touch.
Is it okay to talk about my self-harm? Expand Of course. We understand the issues around self-harm and hope that you feel able to talk about what you do and the reasons why you do it. We know it is can be confusing and lots of women who contact our support services talk about this. We know it can be hard to talk about and often women contact us a number of times before they feel able to talk about self-harm or other sensitive issues.
Do I have to tell you my name? Expand No. We do not ask any personal information about you and we do not expect you to give it. We understand that sometimes people not knowing who you are can make it easier to talk about difficult things or about what is going on in your life. If you If you have told us who and where you are and we think that you are at risk of significant harm or death we would have to tell someone what you have told us. Please bear in mind that if you give us any information that stays on our system. That information could be linked together at a later date to find you if we were worried about your safety. As an organisation we share safeguarding concerns across our services. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. We cannot trace calls or IP addresses.
What will happen when I call? Expand When you call we will answer ‘Hello Women’s Self Injury Helpline’ and then give you space to talk. We can offer you support for half an hour each time we are open and will let you know when we are coming to the end of the call. You can ask us questions about how the service works and we can send you information if it is useful.
Who answers the phone? Expand All calls are answered by specially trained female volunteers. All volunteers do intensive training about self-harm and offering non-judgmental, non-directional support to callers.
Naomi Salisbury - Director Expand Naomi has worked in community development and advocacy roles for over 10 years specialising in working with people affected by self-injury and complex mental health diagnoses. She has run a range of peer-led advocacy projects and support groups and previously ran the UK-wide Women’s Self Injury Helpline for Self injury Support as well as being involved in a variety of peer-led research, consultation and training. She became Director of Self Injury Support in April 2017.
Dora Rickford, 'Troubled Inside: Responding to the Mental Health Needs fo Women in Prisons' (Prison Reform trust: 2003). Expand A report that draws upon conferences and research to provide insight an recommendations regarding the mental health needs of women in the criminal justice system. Click here for pdf.
Isabelle Bi Expand Isabelle is a new trustee and will be taking up the role of treasurer. She is a Year 1 PhD student at the University of Bristol studying gender differences in debt behaviour among young people in the UK using large data sets.
Rosie Buckland Expand Rosie became involved with Self Injury Support as a trustee in 2017 and is the lead for Safeguarding. She worked as Volunteer Coordinator at the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard and as a drug and alcohol worker in the criminal justice system before training as a Social Worker almost 10 years ago. Her social work background is in mental health and she now works as a Social Worker and Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) for the Emergency Duty Team. She's also undertaking a PhD exploring experiences of assessment under the Mental Health Act. She has one child and one cat!
Sarah Howard Expand Sarah is Secretary and is Self Injury Support’s longest-standing trustee and, until November 2017, had served as the Board of Trustees' Co-chair for several years. She originally joined the organisation when it was still a collective and worked on the helpline when she first joined the organisation. She recently retired from Bristol City Council, where she is a waste officer, having experience in waste management, contract management, and dealing with the more complex complaints and enquiries from the public relating to waste services. She has a BA in Business and Combined studies and a HNC in Wastes Management.
Christina Rowley Expand Christina has been a Self Injury Support trustee since early 2014, and was Secretary to the Board between 2015 and 2017, and Chair from 2017 to 2018. Her background is in feminist political and cultural research and she currently works for the Economic and Social Research Council, where she is Head of International Strategy. Prior to this role, she was the ESRC lead for engagement with charities and other civil society organisations.
Equal Opportunities Expand Our commitment Self Injury Support believes that diversity makes us stronger and better able to support our service users. We are committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, eliminating unlawful discrimination and creating an environment in which all our employees and service users feel respected for their unique differences and able to give their best. Discrimination and harassment are wholly unethical and have no place in Self Injury Support. The law It is unlawful to discriminate directly or indirectly in recruitment or employment because of a ‘protected characteristic’. The Equality Act defines the protected characteristics as being age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy, maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality, caste and ethnic or national origins), sexual orientation, religion or belief, or because someone is married or in a civil partnership. Discrimination after employment may also be unlawful, eg refusing to give a reference for a reason related to one of the protected characteristics. It is also unlawful to discriminate against or harass a member of the public or service user in the provision of services or goods or to fail to make reasonable adjustments to overcome barriers to using services caused by disability. The duty to make reasonable adjustments includes the removal, adaptation or alteration of physical features, if the physical features make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of services. In addition, service providers have an obligation to think ahead and address any barriers that may impede disabled people from accessing a service. Types of unlawful discrimination Direct discrimination is where a person is treated less favourably than another because of a protected characteristic. However, discrimination may be lawful if there is an occupational requirement which is core to a job role and a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Indirect discrimination means putting in place, a rule or policy or way of doing things that has a worse impact on someone with a protected characteristic than someone without one, when this cannot be objectively justified. Harassment is where there is unwanted behaviour related to a protected characteristic (other than marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity) which has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or which creates a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. It does not matter whether or not this effect was intended by the person responsible for the conduct. Associative discrimination is where the individual treated less favourably does not have a protected characteristic but is discriminated against because of their association with someone who does, eg the parent of a disabled child. Perceptive discrimination is where the individual discriminated against or harassed does not have a protected characteristic but they are perceived to have a protected characteristic. Third-party harassment occurs where an employee is harassed by third parties such as service users, due to a protected characteristic. Victimisation is treating someone unfavourably because they have taken some form of action relating to the Equality Act, ie because they have supported a complaint or raised a grievance under the Equality Act 2010, or because they are suspected of doing so. However, an employee is not protected from victimisation if they acted maliciously or made or supported an untrue complaint. Failure to make reasonable adjustments is where a rule or policy or way of doing things has a worse impact on someone with a protected characteristic compared with someone who does not have that protected characteristic and the employer has failed to make reasonable adjustments to enable the disabled person to overcome the disadvantage. Service users, suppliers and others We will not discriminate unlawfully against service users using or seeking to use the services we provide. If you are feel you are being discriminated against or you see someone else being discriminated against in using our services, you are asked to contact us using our complaints procedure.
Safeguarding Expand Safeguarding and Confidentiality All of our services and support are confidential unless there is an immediate risk to the person we are supporting or someone else they tell us about and we have information about where they are. You don’t need to tell us who and where you are and we won’t ask. However, we would need to break confidentiality if: we believe you are at risk of significant harm or death and you have toldus who and where you are you have given us information about someone else who is at risk of harmand you have told us who and where they are Please bear in mind that if you give us any information about where you might be stays on our system. That information could be linked together at a later date to find you if we were worried about your safety. As an organisation we share safeguarding concerns across our support services. If you have told us who and where you are and you ask us to report a situation where you are at risk we can do this. What will happen if I tell you I am at risk right now, from self-injury or something else that is happening? If you have told us who and where you are and we think self-injury or something else you tell us about has put you at risk of significant harm or death, then we will call 999. We will always tell you that we are contacting emergency services. We understand this might be frightening, but we will support you until we close. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. We are not able to trace your call or find out where are. Click here for information on limiting damage and First Aid What if I am feeling suicidal? Lots of people who contact us feel suicidal. We can support you and listen to your feelings about not wanting to live. If you have taken something or have injured yourself and you are concerned we strongly encourage you to contact emergency services. If you have told us your name and where you are and that you have taken action towards suicide or intend to right away, we will contact emergency services for you. We will always tell you that we are contacting emergency services. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. We are not able to trace your call or find out where are. We hope that if you are still contacting us then a part of you wants us to listen and we will do that while we are open and give you details of other organisations to contact when we are closed. What if I tell you about someone who is hurting me or someone else, either now or in the past? If you have tell us who and where you are and you give us details of someone who is abusing you or someone else, now or in the past, we have to pass that onto local safeguarding authorities. We would let you know that we would have to do this. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. We are not able to trace your call or find out where are.
Data Protection and GDPR Expand Self injury Support has created this statement to show our commitment to privacy. The purpose of this statement is to explain how Self injury Support processes your data, whether you are using our services, interested in volunteering or browsing our website. Self injury Support takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep your data safe. If you have any questions about this privacy statement please contact us at Self injury Support, PO Box 3240, Bristol BS2 2EF. Using our website: What information do we collect? We may collect, store and use these kinds of data: Information about your computer and about your visits and use of this website. You may email us, or use forms on this site to send us personal information such as name and email address. We may use your personal information to: Help run the website, deal with enquiries you have made, send you other communications if you request these. We will not give your personal information to third parties without your permission, unless we are required to do so by law. We may use cookies on the website to keep track of you whilst you navigate the website. We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of this website. Google may use cookies to store this information. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information. (See here for Google’s privacy policy.) Data given to us via web forms on this site may be stored on servers outside the UK, but in Europe. This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. This site contains links to other sites. Self injury Support is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites. If you subscribe to our ebulletin: What information do we have? You can subscribe to our bulletin via the link on our website homepage. You will need to give us your name and email address. You will then be sent a confirmation email and registration for the newsletter will not be completed until you confirm. Your contact data is stored with our third party email service provider, MailChimp (see here for Mailchimp privacy policy.) MailChimp is a web based email service provider that does not use cookies to track our subscribers. Links and images are used to track the opens and clicks for each ebulletin. Should you wish to stop receiving emails from us, you can unsubscribe directly through the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the ebulletin. By clicking this link, you will be automatically unsubscribed from all future emails. If you order our publications. What information do we have? If you order via our online form you can request for us to keep you informed about our organisation by ticking the consent box ‘I would like to be kept informed of any new information and events from Self Injury Support’ We will add you to our electronic databases held by Mailchimp (see above) and you have the opportunity to unsubscribe at any time. If you do not opt-in for us to keep you informed we will hold your details to process your order. We then will then only keep a record of your postcode to comply with statutory requirements and to help to improve the service we provide. If you contact us about volunteering with Self injury Support: What information do we have? Applying to be a volunteer or enquiring about volunteering involves you giving us your personal details. We will use this information to assist you with any queries you might have regarding your volunteering application and to keep track of volunteering applications and enquiries. As part of your volunteering application we ask for information about age, disability, gender, sexuality and ethnicity to help us with equal opportunities monitoring. You are not required to give us this information, but by choosing to do so you consent to the processing of this information by us. If you decide to apply to volunteer with Self injury Support, we will also ask for information from your referees and the Disclosure and Barring Service. Self injury Support will keep your personal information confidential, unless we are required to disclose it in connection with a police investigation and/or we have reason to believe that you may present a risk of immediate harm to yourself or others. At your request we will provide a reference after a designated period, to be agreed at the start of your volunteering with us. Using our support services: What data do we have? Self injury Support supports women and girls in distress through its support services. The services are available by telephone, SMS, email and Webchat. Helpline: Our service is designed so that volunteers can’t see your telephone number when you contact us. We cannot trace calls however some information is available on our central systems. This can be accessed by staff to ensure that telephone operating systems are working, to record the number of calls received and to help monitor and improve our helpline provision. Text and email: On the TESS system we cannot see and don’t have access to any of your personal information. Instead your messages are given a unique number so that if you contact us again we can see the previous dialogue you’ve had with us. You do not need to tell us any identifying information and we will not ask for it, but if you give us information about you, our safeguarding responsibilities mean it will be kept on file. Information is kept on our central systems and can be accessed by staff to ensure that text and email operating systems are working, to record the number of messages received and to help monitor and improve our text and email provision. To comply with our statutory obligations this data is kept for a specified period of time. Webchat: On Webchat we do not have any information about you other than what you tell us. Each conversation that you have with us is given a code. If you want to, you can use that code to continue the conversation on a different day. You do not need to tell us any identifying information and we will not ask for it, but if you give us information about you, our safeguarding responsibilities mean it will be kept on file. Information is kept on our central systems and can be accessed by staff to ensure our operating systems are working, to record the number of messages received and to help monitor and improve our service. To comply with our statutory obligations this data is kept for a specified period of time. As new volunteers come onto the service, part of their training is to shadow calls, texts or emails to learn from experienced volunteers. If you think this is happening when you contact us and you don’t want it to continue please just ask and we can stop it straight away. Privacy on all our support services: We do not ask any personal information about you and we would never expect you to give it. If you have told us your name and/or your location or we have your name and/or location on record, and we feel that you are in immediate danger of harm from yourself or another individual, we would have to contact emergency services for you. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details and we will not ask for them. If you have told us who and where you are and/or you gave us details of someone who is abusing you or someone else, we would have to pass that onto the authorities. We would let you know that we would have to do this. It is always your choice about whether you tell us your details or those of someone else and we will not ask for them. If you do give us personal information, and we are concerned about you, we may keep information you’ve given us to help us know it’s you when you contact us again. We share this information within Self injury Support across all services to provide you with the best possible support. We’ll never pass any of this information on to any other organisation, except in the following situations: We call the police if during the course of a contact you have told us your name and /or where you are and that you intend to harm yourselves or others right away. You threaten the safety of our volunteers or you compromise the delivery of our service, for example by making it difficult for other people to get through, or by misusing the phone lines or other technology. You provide information that identifies someone who has caused harm or says they are going to cause harm to a child or vulnerable adult. We receive a call about acts of terrorism or bomb warnings. We receive a court order requiring us to share information. If we believe you are misusing our services or are abusive towards the volunteers we may use our system to block your calls or messages from getting through or limit your access to our services. If this happens, a member of Self injury Support’s staff will contact you to explain the reason why we have restricted your access. If you wish to appeal a decision please contact Self injury Support, PO Box 3240, Bristol BS2 2EF [email protected].
Clare Peat - Service Manager Expand Clare joined Self injury Support as a Service Manager in 2018, having previously volunteered on the helpline service. She is currently completing her counselling training.