About Us
Student life can be tough at times. For some people, all the expectations of working hard, getting the grades you want or need, having fun, and maintaining a busy social life can seem nearly impossible to manage.
This is where Nightline comes in.
You can contact Nightline to speak to a fellow student about anything that’s on your mind, whether it’s academic stresses, relationship problems, or you’re just feeling down and want someone to talk to. No problem is too big, no problem is too small.
Nightline is intended for users over the age of 18. If you are under 18, we recommend services such as Childline.
Principles
Confidential
All contact with Nightline is confidential within the organisation, subject to our confidentiality policy.*
Anonymous
The service is anonymous. We have never tried to identify any of our users and never will.
Non-Judgemental & Non-Advisory
You can speak to us about anything, without fear of being judged or told what to do.
Open Nightly
We aim to be open every night of term – and we do a pretty good job of making sure we are!
*Confidentiality Policy
Confidentiality is a core value held by Birmingham Nightline, it is important to us that you feel comfortable talking about anything that is on your mind without fear of anyone else finding out. Nobody outside of Nightline will know what you have talked about with us, or even that you contacted at all. It is not a requirement to share personal details, such as your name or course, when you contact Nightline, but if you wish to, these details will remain between yourself and the Nightliner you spoke to.
If suicidal feelings are explored during a contact, our policy is to ask for the contact’s name and address so that the Nightliner can call for the appropriate help if needed. However, contacts provide these details at their own discretion, and choosing to provide or withhold such details would not affect the rest of the contact.
Furthermore, it is in the legitimate interests of Nightline to protect against abuses of the service to protect our volunteer safety, wellbeing, and ensure that the service remains available for genuine callers. In order to serve this interest, where a caller acts in an abusive or threatening manner towards our volunteers, Nightline may disclose personal data of that caller to appropriate third parties. These parties include the police, other Nightlines, Nightline Association, and other organisations with responsibility for the welfare of our volunteers. This disclosure may include personal data such as name and phone number.
Otherwise, we would only disclose information in the following cases:
– If you expressly request us to contact an external service
– A terrorist threat is made (due to the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000)
– A child is believed to be at immediate or future risk of harm or exploitation (due to The Children and Young Persons Act 1933)
– We receive a court order requiring us to share information
If such cases arose and confidentiality was required to be broken, the Nightliner would let you know that any relevant information talked about would be passed on, to preserve the safety of others.
Birmingham Nightline: A Diverse, Inclusive and Equitable Space for Volunteers and Contacts
At Birmingham Nightline, we approach every situation with the aim to make things as diverse, inclusive and equitable as possible. Whether this be through our recruitment and training process, or through the way we approach taking our anonymous contacts on the listening service, DEI is something that we always want to prioritise.
In a representative survey of our current volunteers, 100% agreed that Birmingham Nightline takes diversity and inclusion seriously and wants to promote an equal service for both volunteers and contacts. 100% also agreed that Birmingham Nightline is an inclusive and tolerant space.
As of our most recent AGM, we have elected a public-facing DEI Officer: Hana Walker (she/her), who is working to make a real impact on how DEI-friendly our charity is. We are striving to collaborate with University societies that reach communities and individuals that are underrepresented within our current volunteer pool. We are also holding monthly DEI discussion groups that allow members of the charity to vocalise and discuss their experience with DEI-related issues.
Despite the positive response we received in our initial survey, we are excited to strengthen the DEI within the service. We are specifically looking to increase the number of male volunteers in an attempt to continue discussions about male mental health stigmatisation. We also want to increase the racial diversity of our charity, especially by encouraging more Black volunteers to join us, as well as members of all other underrepresented ethnic groups.
We are continuously working on our recruitment and training process to ensure that it is as inclusive as possible and takes into consideration those with disabilities, those who are neurodivergent, and those with other accessibility issues.
If you have any issues, concerns or points you would like to raise in terms of how Birmingham Nightline can become more diverse, inclusive and equitable, please email our current DEI Officer, Hana Walker, at: birminghamcoordinators@gmail.com