FirstSigns

To offer a vibrant, unique and comprehensive selection of resources, support and fresh information that everyone affected by self-injury can relate to and benefit from.

To fully engage our members in an accessible, non-judgemental and non-directional manner, while empowering them to make their own positive and self-directed changes. By providing a safe, lively and vibrant community of support, encourage people to make positive choices in their lives and to seek health and happiness on a daily basis and in everything they do. We aspire to enable people to find healthier coping mechanisms in order that they themselves may choose to move away from self-injury.

To blast away the cobwebs from tired old texts and dated opinions on self-injury and provide insightful and forward-thinking knowledge and training to Doctors, Nurses, Health Care Workers, Youth Workers, Teachers and those working with and caring for people affected by self-injury, including their family and friends.

To positively challenge the way in which self-injury is dealt with by all sections of the community, thus encouraging a nationwide continuum where everyone who self-injures will know what care they can expect to receive, and be sure they will receive it.

To raise awareness about the syndrome of self-injury in the UK and beyond and to actively influence national attitudes towards self-injury by banishing stigma, crushing stereotypes and dispelling the myths associated with self-injury.

To actively influence every single person in the UK so that nobody suffers in silence and that everybody has heard of, and has a better understanding of, self-injury. To inspire everyone, whether personally affected or not, to choose to find out about self-injury, to ask questions, and to care about the causes and effects of self-injury and about people who hurt themselves. To ensure that nobody is left in any doubt that self-injury is a coping mechanism that can affect anyone; that age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and personal strength have no bearing.

To remain non-elitist; our excellent resources are available for everybody and we aspire to reach out and affect people. We intend to be the number one resource for self-injury in the UK, both online and in real-life, whereby when someone says ‘self-injury’ everyone automatically thinks of the FirstSigns voluntary organisation.