FirstSigns (Self-Injury Guidance & Network Support) is an online, user-lead voluntary organisation, founded in 2002 to raise awareness about self-injury and provide information and support to people of all ages affected by self-injury. We recognise self-injury is a way of coping with distressing experiences and difficult emotions, and we encourage people to reflect on the issues behind their self-injury, and to develop and explore alternative coping mechanisms.
FirstSigns is managed and lead by people with personal experience of self-injury, and we are non-judgemental, non-directional, and respectful of our members' and visitors' life experiences and perceptions. The FirstSigns website is the centre of our vibrant community, and provides access to all of our services, including our newsletter, book and training - www.lifesigns.org.uk

FirstSigns (Self Injury Guidance & Network Support) is a UK user-lead voluntary organisation. We are an organisation, run by the Directors who make up the Management Committee and volunteer their time to maintain and run our organisation.

We aim to support all people who are affected in anyway by self injury within the United Kingdom and beyond. We support people using self injury, and family and friends of people who self injure, and people (including Health Care Workers) who are interested in self injury.

We focus on the UK, as we are aware of the laws and medical practices in the UK, but we are happy for people outside of the UK to interact with FirstSigns.

FirstSigns is membership based, which means that if you sign up for the Newsletter you are classed as a member. (Membership and the Newsletters are free.)

No one has to be a member to benefit from FirstSigns, we offer our services to everyone.

Some images are from Flickr, and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License; some kind Flickr people give us permission to use their work above and beyond this Attribution license.