UK & Ireland's first BFRB charity
Donation protected
BFRB UK and Ireland, originally founded by Pavitt Thatcher and Bridget Bradley, is a volunteer-led support network that has been helping people with body-focused repetitive behaviours and their loved ones since 2015. Since our meetings moved online in March 2020, our support group numbers have soared, prompting the recruitment of new volunteers. Our small and dedicated team continues to host fortnightly online support groups for those in the UK, Ireland, and beyond!
We are raising money so that we can continue this essential work. In the last few years, we have supported thousands of individuals with BFRBs and their loved ones. With your support, our goal is to become the UK and Ireland’s first charity for BFRBs.
Meeting our fundraising target will allow us to:
- Sustain and grow online and in-person support groups across the UK and Ireland
- Begin a support group for children and teens, and support the relevent training for our volunteers to run these groups
- Achieve charity status and become the first organisation dedicated to BFRBs in the UK and Ireland
- Develop a website, logo, domain name, and create resources specific to British and Irish audiences
- Organise events to bring families, researchers, clinicians and community members together
- Develop programmes in outreach, awareness and education within our communities
- Build a team of dedicated, experienced people who will ensure the long-term sustainabilty of the charity
Together we can help so many people with BFRBs. Thank you for your support!
Learn More about BFRBs:
Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs) are a family of disorders that include hair-pulling (trichotillomania), skin-picking (dermatillomania, excoriation), nail-biting (onychophagia), and related disorders. BFRBs are characterised by the repetitive urge to carry out these behaviours, resulting in damage to the body, despite repeated attempts to stop. BFRBs can cause significant emotional distress and low self-esteem, as well as intense feelings of shame, guilt, and isolation. At least 5% of the population suffers from a BFRB – that’s approximately 4 million people in the UK and Ireland alone. Unfortunately, despite their prevalence, these conditions are still heavily stigmatised and misunderstood, leading to those with BFRBs finding it difficult to receive a diagnosis, or to access support and treatment.
Organizer
BFRB UandI
Organizer
Scotland