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
