Lancaster Nightline

Lancaster Nightline aims to follow 6 principles:

• Confidentiality – At Lancaster Nightline, we want every caller to feel that they can talk about anything safely. Confidentiality is one of our core principles, and we will not disclose anything our callers say to anyone outside our organisation. However, in certain circumstances, information needs to be disclosed. Please find our confidentiality framework, detailing exactly under which circumstances we would break this policy, here: Confidentiality Framework
• Anonymity – We won’t make any attempt to find out who you are- we won’t ask for your name.  Nightline volunteers are anonymous themselves.
• Non-Judgementalism – We have no political, religious, ethnic or moral views.  We respect the views of any caller and do not judge you for anything you’ve done.
• Non-Directivism – We won’t try to force you towards any course of action, or get you to think about the situation in any particular way.
• Empathy – Each call is about YOU as an individual – your thoughts and your feelings. Our volunteers are trained in empathetic listening to make sure we see things from your perspective.
• Dedication – All of our volunteers are passionate about helping our callers, and are always here to listen.

All of our volunteers follow these principles when taking calls.  All these principles protect both you as a caller, and us as volunteers. We’ll listen, not lecture.

If you use our email listening service please be aware that your email address is not anonymous, but these calls are still treated with the same confidential approach as any other call. A totally anonymous email service is in development.

Nightline is running a limited service at the moment…

• Unfortunately our phone line is shut at the moment, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
• Our free Skype service is also closed for the moment.
• While COVID-19 has closed our phone services, you can still talk with us with free Instant Messaging right here on our website. Just click here. This service is open most nights of term between 10pm and 1am.
• You can also send us an email to [email protected] and we aim to respond to emails within 48 hours.
• If you would like to contact our executive committee about our service, technical issues or anything else, please send us an email on [email protected]

‘Student life is not always the party people might think it is. I can’t think of a service that does so much for so little, but even that little needs to come from…somewhere.’

– Stephen Fry.

Lancaster Nightline is run by students for students, and therefore we rely on a team of dedicated student volunteers to keep the service running. All volunteers go through a comprehensive training program before becoming enrolled in the service. Training is a great experience and a fantastic chance to meet new people and make new friends.

Perhaps you can help us?

This is an exciting opportunity to join a unique society; it is a chance for you to volunteer for a service that is highly valued by the student body. We hold training sessions towards the start of every term.
You do not need any prior experience to apply; you only need to be a current student at Lancaster University!
We have two different ways in which you can volunteer with us. You can either:

Volunteer to be a Call Taker

You have the opportunity to join our call-taking team. This is an anonymous role which will require you to commit to three/four night shifts per term, and will primarily involve answering calls, emails and Instant messages between 10pm and 8am. For more details about this position, please email [email protected]

Applications for Lent Term 2023 are now closed. If you would like to become a volunteer, register your interest here to be notified when applications open.

Or Volunteer with our Publicity Team

We are also offering the opportunity to be part of our publicity team. We are looking for enthusiastic and innovative students to help us publicise Lancaster Nightline across campus, and bring the service to the forefront of student life.

This role is non-anonymous, and is about increasing Nightline’s presence on campus and student awareness of Lancaster Nightline’s valuable service. The main responsibility of the role is to keep the Lancaster Nightline name known within the University Campus; this will be achieved by working as a team to invent novel techniques to publicise the service at freshers fair, awareness events, and other cross-campus events.

For more details about this position and to apply, please email [email protected]

Need even more of an incentive?

Volunteering with Lancaster Nightline counts towards the Lancaster Award.

Please contact us with any feedback you have regarding our service. We aim to respond within 2 weeks.