Bristol charity celebrates its history to mark Self Injury Awareness Day

In 1988 a new listening service was founded by a Bristol feminist collective who believed empathy and kindness were more helpful than medical diagnosis when treating women who self injure.

Thirty-four years and a name change later, Self injury Support (formerly known as Bristol Crisis Service for Women) is still offering support to marginalised and stigmatised women.

Over the last two years, an oral history project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund has been interviewing former staff and volunteers about what it was like to be part of the charity.

Their experiences are the focus of Women Listening to Women, a new project which includes a booklet, podcast series and an exhibition.

The project’s launch has been tied in with Self Injury Awareness Day on Tuesday.

An exhibition, currently at the Wellspring Settlement, showcases the Women Listening to Women project – photo: Rosie Wild

Rosie Wild, community history worker for Self Injury Support, said the project addresses the underrepresented nature of self injury and women’s mental health.

She said “This is grassroots history where women, who in some cases had been confined to psychiatric hospitals, came together and said no, we’re not crazy, we’re not attention seekers – we’re distressed because we have suffered trauma, and if you won’t listen to us, we will create a service that will.

“And they did, and it’s still going 34 years later, and it has even won a medal from the Queen. I think that’s such a powerful and inspiring story.”

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Jessica Milton, one of the volunteers who carried out interviews for the project, said it meant she could be part of preserving oral histories for future generations.

She said: “Self Injury Support have done consistently pioneering and much-needed research, lobbying, and policy work around women’s mental health, medical care and community support – and have done so with very little centralised support or funding.

“I was surprised that a group with such humble beginnings could have such an important impact on healthcare models in this country.”

As part of the project, illustrator and support worker Jen Price has also created posters to raise awareness of self injury as a coping mechanism

Rosie also believes the Women Listening to Women project speaks to the future as well as the past.

She added: “I hope the story of Bristol Crisis Service for Women will inspire future activists to keep fighting for the change they want to see, no matter how powerless they feel now.

“The history of the charity shows us that even a very marginalised group can effect change when they act together.”

The Women Listening to Women exhibition is at the Wellspring Settlement until Friday, and then the Glenside Hospital Museum from March 8 until April 27, with more venues to be announced soon.

You can find out more about the project by visiting: www.womenlisteningtowomen.org.uk.

Main photo: Andy Degg

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