Welcome to Self Injury Awareness Cymru (SIAC), the first online, bilingual, self harm support community in Wales. At SIAC we believe in providing a safe, comfortable and and open atmosphere, and we practise a non-judgemental approach to those dealing with self injury, in whatever form.

You're welcome to explore the site, download leaflets and factsheets, communicate with other members via our moderated forum and generally join the community. While it's easy to feel like you're an outcast when you're dealing with self harm, at SIAC we hope you'll realise you are far from being alone. Whether you want help in reducing or stopping your self harm or you just need a place to vent about what's bothering you, everyone is welcome. We do have a few rules and guidelines, but these are to ensure the safety of our members and their emotional well being. We do not condone the encouragement of self harm or suicide, though we do recognise that self harm is used as a coping mechanism.

On the site you will find access to publications and articles discussing various forms of self injury and depression; information regarding self injury and injurers rights; frequently asked questions about why people self injure and what can be done to help them as well as a list of links to other boards dealing with similar topics. We also have a range of great information on dealing with self injury (whether you're a self harmer yourself or know someone who is); stopping self harming; distraction techniques and advice on getting professional help.

I hope you find what you are looking for here, but if there you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me.

I am also interested in hearing from anyone with the ability to translate from English to Welsh, and who would be interested in translating parts of this site.

Setting up as a charity or voluntary organisation takes a lot of time, and a lot of effort, and this is where we need you. If you're interested in becoming involved, in whatever capacity, please contact me. I would love to hear from anyone with experience of dealing with self injury in Wales, or experience of working for (or running) a voluntary organisation. Please email comments or CVs to the above email address.

The links page has been updated and we now have a comprehensive list of useful resources, from self harm to healthy eating; bipolar disorder to places to walk. Check them out, and if you have any you think could be useful drop me a line.

I've been doing some work on the resources and helplines page and have created a list of telephone helplines, websites and information on local groups providing face to face support. It's looking a bit bare at the moment though, so if you know of any suitable links or can think of any groups who would like to be added to the site, please let me know.

I am trying to build a section for coping strategies and distraction techniques. While this is pretty basic at the moment I'm working on it, but I'd love your input. If you have any hints or tips you'd like to pass on, have struggled with stopping certain things or have an inspiring story about stopping self harm, please email me.