Self Injury Support

Who we are

Self Injury Support is a national charity that offers confidential, non-directive and non-judgmental emotional support to people who are affected by self-harm.

Our listening services are currently open in the evenings on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, with plans to open during Wednesday evenings from March 2026.

Our culture and values

Our vision

That anyone who uses self-injury knows they are not alone;

That everyone understands that self-injury is a complex and important issue we should all care about;

and that together we tackle both the causes and stigma of self-harm.

Our mission

We focus on improving support and knowledge around self-harm.

How We Do This

- Offering safe spaces where we listen and never judge, and demonstrating the impact of this support;

- Creating experience-led tools and information on topics clients tell us they want to know about;

- Promoting better models of support through training health and social care workers of the future;

- Working with researchers and policy makers to make sure what people tell us they want is put into practice.

What We Do To Make This Happen

- We run a UK-wide multi-channel support service for people affected by self-harm, trauma and abuse;

- We develop up-to-date, reliable and free information and self help tools for anyone to use;

- We run training and consultancy to share knowledge and expertise with a wide range of staff, especially in health, social care and education;

- We partner with other organisations and researchers to find out directly from those with lived experience of self-harm find helpful in their lives. 

Our values

These are the values that ensure we never lose sight of what we are trying to achieve:

Providing non-judgemental support

Self-harm is often experienced alongside feelings of shame or self-blame. Responses from others who do not understand self–harm can reinforce these feelings. We aim to offer and model acceptance which increases chance of people feeling more accepting towards themselves.

Offering a positive experience of reaching out for help

Some people contacting us may not have reached out for help in relation to self-harm before or may have had negative responses when looking for support. The issue is highly stigmatised and a person’s first experience of disclosing is very significant in how they subsequently seek support. 

Respecting an individual's relationship with self-injury and to avoid being prescriptive in our support

We recognise the role and function that self-harm can play in people’s lives at different times. We aim to foster feelings of autonomy and empowerment in the people we support. Our aim is to give people access to clear and objective information designed to help them make the right choices for them at different times in their lives. We do not tell people to stop using self-harm, as this is not our choice to make.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We are committed to being a successful, caring and welcoming place for all employees. We want to create a supportive and inclusive environment where our employees can reach their full potential, without prejudice and discrimination. We are committed to a culture where respect and understanding is fostered and the diversity of people's backgrounds and circumstances will be positively valued.

Equality of opportunity, valuing diversity and compliance with the law is to the benefit of all individuals as we seek to develop the skills and abilities of our people. While specific responsibility for eliminating discrimination and providing equality of opportunity lies with managers and supervisors, individuals at all levels have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect.

Through this policy and procedure and the training and development of managers and staff, the organisation will do all it can to promote good practice in this area to eliminate discrimination and harassment as far as is reasonably possible. We will also continue to work towards our dedicated goal of encouraging and promoting equality and diversity within the workforce.

The policy aims to achieve equality by removing any potential discrimination in the way that our employees are treated by fellow employees or by us, including:

- people with disabilities

- people of different sexual orientations

- transgendered and transsexual people

- people of different races

- people on the grounds of their sex

- those of faith and of no faith

- in relation to their age

- in relation to their social class or medical condition

- people who work part-time

- those who are married or in a civil partnership

- women who are pregnant, have recently given birth or are breastfeeding.

Discrimination can be either direct or indirect discrimination. Some of the above are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and discrimination is prohibited unless there is a legal exception under the Equality Act.

For a full copy of our Equal Opportunities policy, please contact us at [email protected].