Self-harm support project shut down

Project Spear, based in Swindon, shut down last Friday (28 September) after failing to secure funding for work with young people who self-harm. For the last 10 years the project has worked one-to-one with young people in north Wiltshire and published a free national newsletter.

The project has received £86,000 a year during the last three years from the European Social Fund, but the criteria has since changed, meaning it is no longer eligible. Bill Turner, project director, said it was the only charity in the area to provide free work with young people that self-harm, but it had no choice but to close.

"We have done a lot of work with clients to help them find alternative support but there's no free one-to-one support around here," he said.

Turner said his main worry was that small charities are losing independence because of the current funding environment. "We hear other groups saying they're closing as well," he said. "Since the government decided it wanted to get involved with the voluntary sector it hasn't done very well."