Project raises awareness of youth self-harm

The Amber Project based in Cardiff recently marked St David's Day (1 March) by raising the profile of their work among young people who self-harm.

Currently, the Church Army-run project offers counselling, an advocacy service, a weekly drop-in, and regular series of theatre workshops which use "forum theatre", to provide young people with a safe medium through which they can creatively explore their thoughts, feelings and actions and to look at some of the issues which have impacted upon their lives.

During the past year, awareness of the prevalence of self-harm has grown considerably. However, despite publicity gained by the National Inquiry, the Childline Report and the publication of NICE Guidelines, projects such as The Amber Project often remain acutely under-funded and continuously struggle to meet the demands for their services.

Caryl Stock, Co-ordinator of The Amber Project said: "Young people who harm themselves are frequently struggling to cope with complex and multiple problems. Sadly many still feel isolated and are reluctant to seek support. Not many people are aware that March 1 was Self-injury Awareness Day. Time, perhaps to recognise how many children and young people attempt to cope with the trauma and difficulties in their lives by hurting themselves and to resolve to adequately finance the projects which are working at grass roots level to support them."

'Sarah's story'*

"I used to scratch and bite myself or bang my head against walls when I was angry or frustrated. I don’t remember ever not doing that. I think it was because I wasn’t allowed by my parents to express anger towards others, so I took it out on myself. Then my harming moved on to cutting myself and then to overdosing. It became my way of coping; it became my way of staying alive. I have had severe depression since I was 12 and have had suicidal thoughts. Cutting myself stopped me from doing anything worse.

"I used to hide my cutting from everyone; I thought that I was going mad and that I was the only one who did this. It eventually came out when I cut myself and needed stitches and had to get my dad to take me to A&E.

"In a way it was a relief that people knew and I didn’t have to hide it, but people can be cruel. I’ve been called a freak and a loony and I’ve been told that I’m just attention-seeking, but that’s not true. How can it be attention-seeking when I kept it a secret for so long? I’ve also had bad experiences at A&E. One doctor said ‘Why should I stitch you up when you are going to do it again?’ But they wouldn’t refuse to treat someone with severe asthma due to excessive smoking and that’s just as much self-inflicted.

"It’s really hard to get help. I’m currently homeless because there is nowhere in Cardiff for young women who self-harm and need 24-hour support to live. I’m stuck in hospital and I’ve had enough of being there. I’m 20 years old and I want a life."

* Name has been changed, but this is a real story of one youngster the Amber Project has worked with.

• Church Army is a society of evangelists within the Anglican Communion, which exists to enable people to come to a living faith in Jesus Christ.

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