Nightline is a free weekend listening service run by, and for, students at Liverpool Hope University.
And here’s everything you need to know about what’s a valuable resource for anyone who needs a sympathetic ear.
The Nightline Association is a national initiative that describes itself as ‘anonymous, confidential, non-advisory, non-judgemental, and non-directive’.
Hope has its own dedicated chapter operated and staffed by volunteers from the University’s Students’ Union, including Stephanie Trujillo, VP Welfare and Community and Deputy Director of the Hope Nightline.
These trained individuals typically answer emails, instant messages, and social media texts to other students about anything that’s troubling them, from loneliness and depression to exam stress and anxiety. Students are also trained to address mental health crisis too, including sexual assault, self harm and suicide.
And this term the free Hope Nightline is open every Friday and Saturday, between 10pm and 2am during term time. The Hope Nightline also has plans to extend the service to Sunday night by the beginning of March.
All you need to do is visit the @HOPE_NIGHTLINE Instagram page, where you’ll find a link to an online instant messaging facility. Or you can just email nightline@hope.ac.uk.
While the listening volunteers at Hope remain anonymous in order to protect the privacy of the conversations, Olivia Vann is a Director of the programme, as well as being a third year Psychology and English Language student.
For Olivia, 20, Nightline represents ‘consistency’ and ‘unlimited support’ for students who are often at ‘crisis’ point.
She says: “We receive a lot of messages about anxiety and stress, as well as depression, which sadly is not surprising considering the majority of students are aged between 18 and 23, a difficult age where the stress of university, work, finance and exams are nearly always present.”
Nightline acts as an important addition to Hope’s internal counselling structure, and Olivia adds: “Nightline is a consistent, weekly support system which any student can use as many times as they like, without needing to wait around for help.”
Olivia, from Wolverhampton, first got involved with Nightline back in 2019 during her first year at university. And while the role can be challenging, it can also be rewarding.
She adds: “We sometimes get very serious calls from those in a crisis situation, so it’s important to be on the ball, know what to do, and to stay calm. It’s about ensuring our responses are quick and that the person on the other end of the line does not feel alone, not even for a second.
“Although it may be challenging sometimes, all of us are trained specifically to handle these situations, so we always know which route to take to help someone to the best of our ability.
“The hardest thing about being a volunteer is probably the need to stay non-advisory. That is one of our key rules we have to stick by, meaning we can’t give out advice or talk about our own experiences, which is extremely hard as a student, as we can often empathise completely with what the user is saying.
“You often want to reach out and say ‘I completely get it, I’m literally going through that right now’ and give them a hug, but obviously, we can’t do that.
“And although it can be daunting, it is extremely rewarding to know that you’ve potentially helped someone get through another day, or even make them feel slightly less lonely or stressed.
“No matter how big or small the issue is, I get a great sense of fulfillment knowing that I was there for someone in their time of need, which I’m sure every volunteer would agree with.”
If you’d like to become a volunteer yourself, and complete the requisite training, you can email nightline@hope.ac.uk for further details.
Meanwhile Olivia explains that you really need to be psychologically ‘robust’ yourself in order to succeed in the role.
She reveals: “It can often be a mentally challenging job and you need to make sure you are well enough yourself before considering trying to look after other people.
“The main thing I look for in a volunteer is that they’re passionate about helping others, and committed enough to give up their time at the weekends purely to be there for someone in their time of need.
“You get a lot of students who purely want to volunteer as a fast track for getting into the field of psychology because it looks good on a CV, however this type of job is much more complex than that.”
Stephanie wants students to know that the Hope Nightline is a great way to receive mental health support right away, as you access the service immediately during opening hours.
She adds: “It’s a great alternative for those who don’t want to wait for the counseling services at the University or what’s available privately, especially as it’s open during the weekend and late night hours.
"There’s so many students struggling and I want to encourage them to be proactive about getting help before it leads to a crisis point. So talk to us. We’ll listen.”