Birmingham Nightline - Student Services

Here to Listen

Birmingham University Nightline Services

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. Add in the financial pressures that students often face and try to pull it all off while starting a new life in a massive city, it's not surprising that Welfare Services are getting busier and busier. 

This is where Nightline comes in.

We have a few things we believe are extremely important:

• Being non-judgmental and non-directive: You can contact Nightline about anything, without fear of being judged or told what to do

• Confidentiality: All contact with Nightline is confidential within the organisation, subject to our confidentiality policy*

• Anonymity: The service is anonymous. We have never tried to identify any of our users and never will

• Being open nightly: We aim to be open 6pm - 8am, every night of term - and we do a pretty good job of making sure we are!

We're here to listen, not lecture.

Origins

Birmingham Nightline launched back in 1976 for students at UoB.

Volunteers

We have around 50 student volunteers in the society who are here to listen to you.

Goals

We aim to help students at both the University of Birmingham and Aston University.

*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.

Otherwise, confidentiality would only be broken when it is required by legislation. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, we would be required by law to pass on any information about acts of terrorism. The Children and Young Peoples Act (1993) would also require us to pass on any information that suggested a child was at immediate or future risk of harm or exploitation.

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. ​

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Contact Details