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NEW
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ALL Battle Scars face-to-face services are suspended until further notice due to the coronavirus situation. We're running virtual groups at various times and days
To support, educate and bring everybody together
Self-harm is generally misunderstood and has a large stigma attached to it. People who self-harm often feel isolated and experience guilt or are judged for what is a coping mechanism, a way to deal with life, a way to regain control.
Battle Scars has been a registered charity in England and Wales since February 6th, 2018. We've been operating in Leeds since April 2016 as a community group. Since June 2020 we are offering UK-wide support.
We aim to support anybody affected by self-harm: those who self-harm and those supporting them, make sure they no longer feel alone and to break down the stigma.
Our definition of self-harm is
When face-to-face services can restart we are hoping to run our adult survivor-led groups in Leeds and Wakefield again, to support anyone who self-harms, their families, friends and carers, professionals, or anyone who is trying to understand self-harm. We do that by providing opportunities to explore the issues of self-harm within a safe environment, discover and understand the reasons behind it, open up and share without risking judgement so we can help each other become stronger and find better ways to cope.
COVID-19 brought many changes to what we do and how we do it. We turned our groups virtual, soon we opened them up to anybody living in the UK and they're proving so popular we will keep adding more to keep up with the demand. Almost all our groups are run by highly trained and dedicated volunteers, sometimes along staff. But everybody has lived experience of self-harm and their current experience matches the group they run. So, for example, those running our "standard" groups currently struggle with and even use self-harm. Those running our "Inbetweeners" group have lived experience but are in a more stable place and don't or rarely use self-harm but still struggle with urges. And those running the family group have experience of living with a loved one who self-harms or used to self-harm. We want participants to relate to the Battle Scars team. We want them to feel safe enough to open up if they want to, to learn, to ask for help and we want them to know they are not alone. And since all our groups are peer support, we're hoping participants also feel better by supporting others.
We unfortunately had to suspend all the work we were doing in Leeds schools (the managing self-harm workshop for 11-16 year olds and our high school assemblies about self-harm and eating disorders as well as our work in primary schools). We are very aware there is a lot of work to be done in this area and we are working towards developing a more varied approach to support young people. It's also very important to us to reach the young people who have not disclosed to anybody that they self-harm.
Similarly, our training for professionals is now virtual but that's also been opened up to anybody living in the UK. We keep prices low to make our training accessible to everybody who needs it.
For ongoing online peer support please join the closed Facebook support group "Battle Scars survivor led self harm support group" which is for anybody, anywhere in the world.
Please see events & services for more information on the groups and our other services.
Please check out the resources available on this website for self-help tools, tools to be used when working with people who self-harm, insights and information.
Every singe one of us matters.
Battle Scars has been a registered charity in England and Wales since February 6th, 2018. We've been operating in Leeds since April 2016 as a community group. Since June 2020 we are offering UK-wide support.
We aim to support anybody affected by self-harm: those who self-harm and those supporting them, make sure they no longer feel alone and to break down the stigma.
Our definition of self-harm is
- Self-harm inflicted on the body with immediate and longer term effect such as cutting, burning, scratching, pulling hair, hitting, inserting objects, overdosing, poisoning, eating disorders (or any food related self-harm, e.g. overeating, as well as restricting liquids), taking risks etc. but not including alcohol or drug abuse unless combined with self-harm as described above.We recognise that alcohol and drug abuse can be considered as self-harm but we lack the capacity and expertise to provide support with these.
- Psychological harm to the self (e.g. neglect, obsessive negative thinking, sabotaging relationships, maintaining a pattern of creating similar damaging relationships etc.)
When face-to-face services can restart we are hoping to run our adult survivor-led groups in Leeds and Wakefield again, to support anyone who self-harms, their families, friends and carers, professionals, or anyone who is trying to understand self-harm. We do that by providing opportunities to explore the issues of self-harm within a safe environment, discover and understand the reasons behind it, open up and share without risking judgement so we can help each other become stronger and find better ways to cope.
COVID-19 brought many changes to what we do and how we do it. We turned our groups virtual, soon we opened them up to anybody living in the UK and they're proving so popular we will keep adding more to keep up with the demand. Almost all our groups are run by highly trained and dedicated volunteers, sometimes along staff. But everybody has lived experience of self-harm and their current experience matches the group they run. So, for example, those running our "standard" groups currently struggle with and even use self-harm. Those running our "Inbetweeners" group have lived experience but are in a more stable place and don't or rarely use self-harm but still struggle with urges. And those running the family group have experience of living with a loved one who self-harms or used to self-harm. We want participants to relate to the Battle Scars team. We want them to feel safe enough to open up if they want to, to learn, to ask for help and we want them to know they are not alone. And since all our groups are peer support, we're hoping participants also feel better by supporting others.
We unfortunately had to suspend all the work we were doing in Leeds schools (the managing self-harm workshop for 11-16 year olds and our high school assemblies about self-harm and eating disorders as well as our work in primary schools). We are very aware there is a lot of work to be done in this area and we are working towards developing a more varied approach to support young people. It's also very important to us to reach the young people who have not disclosed to anybody that they self-harm.
Similarly, our training for professionals is now virtual but that's also been opened up to anybody living in the UK. We keep prices low to make our training accessible to everybody who needs it.
For ongoing online peer support please join the closed Facebook support group "Battle Scars survivor led self harm support group" which is for anybody, anywhere in the world.
Please see events & services for more information on the groups and our other services.
Please check out the resources available on this website for self-help tools, tools to be used when working with people who self-harm, insights and information.
Every singe one of us matters.
Our renown Crisis Card is meant to be carried by those who might experience severe mental distress and need to seek help. We send the cards, posters & stands free of charge to services, organisations, companies, schools etc in the UK.
Click on image to order
The Battle Scars wristbands are now on sale!
Youth & adult sizes available. Click on image for details 
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"I self-harm to have some control over the chaos in my mind, to release the pressure of a drowning soul. But the Battle scars Facebook group has helped me shed the shame I felt regarding my self-harm and gave me a safe space to talk about my urges and feelings without judgment. It has helped me break the cycle and pull out of the spiral I was in" 
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