It can often seem that you have to fight all your battles by yourself. However, you don’t have to, even if traditional support systems such as family and friends are not available. The student society Nightline is available every night during term time to help in whatever way they can.
Nightline is a society that provides a listening ear, but they also have a lot to say. Read below for an interview with Ewan Cameron and Sarah Shufflebotham (Nightline’s Publicity Coordinators).
Simply put, what is Nightline?
Lancaster Nightline is a confidential and anonymous student-run listening and information service (similar to the Samaritans) which is open at night and run by Lancaster students, for Lancaster students.
What services does Nightline provide? How can students access them?
We’re open every night of term, and every night our trained student volunteers answer calls, emails and instant messages from their fellow university students about anything that’s troubling them.
We’re also an information service, so if you need to know the number for a taxi or bus times you can contact us to find that out too! There’s no problem too big or too small that you can talk to us about. Nightline volunteers are fellow students, which means they can directly empathise with their callers’ problems.
Usually, we run a call-taking service, but due to COVID-19, we’re unfortunately unable to provide this service during first term. So, for first term at least, we’re operating entirely online. You can access our IM service by going to this link. You can also send us an email at the following address: nlvol@lancaster.ac.uk.
How can students get involved with Nightline?
At the start of every term, we recruit new volunteers to join our call-taking and publicity teams. Just like everything else, our recruitment and training process will be a little different from usual this year in the first term! You can find out more about our recruitment process here. Additionally, you can also scan the QR code on the graphic to take you straight to our recruitment questionnaire.
As a call-taker, you’ll be answering calls, Instant Messages and emails anonymously and confidentially from other students. As a member of the Publicity Team, you’ll help spread the word about Nightline around campus! This includes designing posters and merchandise, and helping out at events like Freshers Fair.
We also have socials (although we’re unsure how exactly they’re going to run this term) which involve both the publicity and the call-taking teams, which brings everyone from the two sides of the society together.
What would you say is the best part of Nightline?
For me, it’s been getting to volunteer alongside some of the most compassionate and amazing people you’ll ever find. I’ve had a fantastic time volunteering for Nightline! However, sometimes it can be a tough job. But we have a great support structure for our volunteers and welfare is paramount. Everyone who volunteers for us is so friendly and supportive, so you never find yourself out of your depth or without someone to talk to.
Nightline will be there for you every night of term. You can either contact them through their email address (nlvol@lancaster.ac.uk) from 10pm-8am or with their IM Service from 10pm-1am.
