Temporary Service Suspension

After some careful thought, we have come to the decision to temporarily suspend our listening support services in the new year. This includes our helpline, text, email, and webchat support services. We understand that a temporary closure may not feel like a positive thing and could feel difficult, but we want to reassure you that we want to be here to offer the best support that we can and in order to do that, we need to take a break now to put the things in place that will help us do that. 

Since 2020, our services have been struggling with capacity, which has meant that our services have been reduced and we’ve seen frequent service closures. We’ve realised that in order to be here with you in the long term, we need to take a pause to give our services the care and attention they deserve so that we can be here long into the future. 

We’re going to be looking at how we can make our services stronger by restructuring internally, by looking at funding, recruitment, and equality, diversity, and inclusion, and, most importantly, by hearing from you about what matters to you when reaching out for support.  

How long will you be closed for? 

We had hoped to have our support services up and running over Summer 2023. Unfortunately, we were waiting on some crucial funding which meant that we needed to change our timeframes. We're so pleased to confirm that we have received some secure funding to reopen our services and we are now working towards a new reopening time of Autumn/Winter 2023.

We want to reassure you that we are still absolutely committed to reopening our services and being back here to provide non-judgmental emotional support around self harm as soon as possible. We will keep posting updates here and the next update will be at the end of August 2023. 

We would love to hear from you about what you think about our services and how you think we could do things. We really value any thoughts and feedback you have to help us ensure our services are the best that they can be. The survey link is:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F9S66VM  

Where else can I get support while you’re closed? 

Home - Womankind Bristol

Mind helplines - Mind

Contact Us | Samaritans

https://www.selfharm.co.uk

NSHN -- Downloads

Helplines - Beat (beateatingdisorders.org.uk)

Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk)

There are lots of other services that are able to offer support whilst we're closed and many of these are listed here: https://www.selfinjurysupport.org.uk/support-groups

Thank you in advance for bearing with us while we work towards becoming more sustainable and resilient. We hope to be back here to support you really soon.

Last updated: July 2023

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