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Timeline

Of Bristol Crisis Service For Women
1986
Bristol Crisis Service for Women created by members of the Bristol Women and Mental Health Network
1987
First public workshop held in St Jude’s, Bristol, with a free creche
1988
Telephone helpline opens and receives almost 250 calls in first year
1989
Bristol Crisis Service for Women moves to its own office in central Bristol
1990
First paid employee – part-time volunteer coordinator role, job-shared between two women
Publication of first pamphlet, Women and Self Injury by Hilary Lindsay
The office moves to a bigger space in the same building
FACES (For Acceptance and Care to Express Self Harm) self injury self-help group set up by founder member Diane Harrison
Founder member Maggy Ross dies
1991
Helpline calls increasing – 383 answered in 1991/2
1992
Bristol Crisis Service for Women registered as a charity
1993
Bristol Crisis Service for Women attends the Challenges to Psychiatry conference
1994
First issue of SHOUT (Self Harm Overcome by Understanding and Tolerance) magazine published
Understanding Self Injury, Self Help for Self Injury and For Friends and Family by Lois Arnold published
Face to face support group for women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse started
Helpline calls increasing – 625 in 1994/95
1995
Ground-breaking report Women and Self Injury: a Survey of 76 Women by Lois Arnold published
Needing Attention: an Evaluation of Service for Women Who Self Injure by Hilary Lindsay published
Bristol Crisis Service for Women organises a conference, Cutting Out The Pain, held at Bristol University
Bristol Crisis Service for Women features in a book Feminist Activism in the 1990s edited by Gabriele Griffin.
1996
Collective structure changed to allow decisions to be taken by a smaller Working Group 
Self Injury Support and Self Help Groups by Karin Parker and Hilary Lindsay published
Bristol Crisis Service for Women host workshops on how to support women who self injure at several conferences
1997
Training pack Working With People Who Self Injure published and sells more than 100 copies in first year
Bristol Crisis Service for Women hosts workshops on how to support women who self injure at several conferences
Website launched
1998
10th anniversary celebration held in central Bristol
Training session for professionals who work with self injury held as far away as the Shetland Isles
Several national conferences attended
1999
Good Practice Guidelines for Working With People Who Self Injure by Hilary Lindsay published
Self Injury Self Help (SISH) group started
Training sessions delivered from Derry to Dorchester and several conferences attended  
2000
Bristol Crisis Service for Women starts facilitating the Self Injury Self Help group
Change in collective structure to accept volunteers who do not work on the helpline 
Bristol Crisis Service for Women highly commended at the Volunteer Action Awards
Bristol Crisis Service for Women hosts stalls at local festivals and a fundraising event with the Gasworks Choir at a local theatre
2001
Report into Local Needs of Women who Self Injure by Natasha Du Rose published
Accessible versions of Women and Self Injury produced in braille, large print, plain English and words and pictures
Bristol Crisis Service for Women holds an International Women’s Day event focusing on minority ethnic women
2002
Collective structure ended. Registration as a limited company and charity with a conventional hierarchical structure overseen by a Management Committee
Helpline expands to include a third phoneline and extends opening hours to include Sunday evenings 
2003
Rainbow Journal self-help workbook for young women and girls by Catherine Lucas published
Helpline and volunteer advertising is targeted at younger women in response to evidence that they are using self injury increasingly
2004
Thirty-three days of training delivered to professionals who work with people who self injure, particularly those working with young people
2005
Women from Black and Minority Ethnic Groups and Self Injury self-help booklet by Fiona Macaulay published in Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Chinese and English
Bristol Crisis Service for Women holds workshops and speaks at several conferences about black and minority ethnic women and young people and self injury
The Young Women’s Group, an advisory group of young service-users, begins to meet monthly
The Pain Inside, a self-help workbook for women in prison by Fiona Macaulay, is distributed among women’s prisons
Calls to the helpline have more than doubled since 2000
2006
The helpline is awarded the Mental Health Helplines Quality Standard and opens a fourth line
Ride On, a book of poetry by the Young Women’s Group edited by Lorna Henry, is published
The training pack Working With People Who Self Injure is updated
Bristol Crisis Service for Women hosts an open morning for friends and family of people who self injure
Thirty-five training days are delivered, several in prisons
2007
Helping Yourself if You Hurt Yourself, an accessible book for people with learning disabilities, adapted by Fiona Macaulay and Professor Pauline Heslop of the Norah Fry Centre at Bristol University from previous Bristol Crisis Service for Women publication Self Help for Self Injury, is published
2008
20th anniversary celebration at Bristol Council House
Launch of Text and Email Support Service (TESS) for women under 25
2009
The Hidden Pain suite of resources for people with learning disabilities, their families and carers is published and 400 packs distributed. Created by Fiona Macaulay and Professor Pauline Heslop, it includes: a DVD; booklet for family and carers; self help workbook; and training pack for professionals.
Bristol Crisis Service for Women hosts conferences in all four countries of the United Kingdom to launch Hidden Pain and speaks at several European conferences
Forty-four training sessions are delivered from Exeter to Essex


2010
New website www.selfinjurysupport.org.uk launched 
Bristol Crisis Service for Women awarded the Queen’s Medal for Voluntary Service at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace
Twenty-nine training sessions are delivered across England and Wales
2011
Telephone helpline closed due to lack of funding
Seventeen training sessions and seven one-day workshops are delivered
2012
Six workshops and 13 training sessions are delivered
2013
New training for schools on working with young people who self injure developed 
Five workshops and 13 training sessions delivered, including to schools and colleges
2014
Bristol Crisis Service for Women changes name to Self Injury Support
Telephone helpline reopens with two phone lines operating three days a week
Self Injury Support hosts a national networking conference for organisations that work with people who self injure 
Self Injury Support sets up the Local Helplines Forum, a peer support forum for local helpline managers
Bristol Women’s Voice creates a short film about Bristol Crisis Service for Women for International Women’s Day
New training on Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder developed
Twenty-one training sessions delivered to schools, councils, NHS trusts and more
2015
Self Injury Support and Self Injury Self Help jointly develop and deliver training for A&E staff on self injury
Self Injury Support leads the Self Injury Network Group (SING) for organisations and agencies that work with young people who use self injury in the Bristol area
Self Injury Support hosts a series of arts-based wellbeing workshops with theatre group Lady Strong’s Bonfire
Seven workshops and 21 training sessions are delivered in schools, prisons, probation services, councils and NHS bodies in Britain and Ireland
2016 
The Telephone and Email Support Services (TESS) adds a webchat facility
Telephone helpline is open five days a week with two phone lines
Self Injury Support works with the National Institute of Healthcare Research on how best to develop research on self injury that includes service users
2017
The Text and Email Support Service and telephone helpline merge 
Launch of DistrACT app, developed with help from Self Injury Support
2018
Office expands to include a dedicated helpline room and kitchen
2019
Visible Women activist networking event celebrates 30th anniversary of Bristol Crisis Service for Women/Self Injury Support
2020
Lived Experience A&E Follow Up Service launched to provide one-off confidential peer support and information to people who have presented at A&E with self injury

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