Nightline – a student volunteer’s experience

A Sheffield Hallam student writes about her experience volunteering for Nightline

Sheffield Nightline is a welfare service providing support and information to the students at Sheffield Hallam and the University of Sheffield during the night. There are three different ways you can get in touch with us so there is something to suit everyone! You can call us on our listening line if there is something on your mind that you want to talk about, this is open 8pm-8am every night during term time and the number is 0114 22 28787. Our information line also opens from 8pm to 8am, we provide information on everything as long as it’s legal, the number for this is 0114 22 28788. Our Instant Messenger service runs from 8pm to 12am if a trained volunteer is available. This is very similar to using Facebook Messenger, replies are instant and this can be accessed through our website- http://www.sheffieldnightline.co.uk/p/our-blog.html. Our email service is open all year round, this includes holidays and summer. Our email address is nightline@sheffield.ac.uk and you can email us to talk about absolutely anything. All the emails go through an anonymiser which hides your email address so we won’t know who is contacting us. A trained volunteer will respond to emails within 48 hours. All our contact information is on our website and our numbers are on the back of your SHU Card.

Nightline is run by a team of anonymous student volunteers, we receive weekly training and have to pass tests before we can interact with our service users. We are non-judgmental and confidential so you can contact us without having to worry about being judged or other people finding out. We are an empathetic ear and we do not give advice. It’s a bit like talking to your friend except we won’t tell you what you should do and you can hang up whenever, whereas a friend might keep bringing it up.

I started volunteering for Nightline during my first year at uni and I’m so glad that I did! Being the first one in my family to go to uni I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t have anyone to answer my questions, knowing that I could contact Nightline and talk to someone who was already a student was definitely the next best thing. I wanted to be able to help people in the same way and when I saw that Nightline was recruiting new volunteers I knew I had to apply.

I have been volunteering for Nightline for over a year now and I enjoy it so much! I have made friends from both universities and they’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. It really has been a great way to meet loads of new people and there’s always a social planned to look forward to.

Being a Nightliner has taught me so many new skills. My communication skills are a thousand times better than before I started volunteering. We have to communicate effectively with whoever contacts us, they can be really stressed or upset, they might not speak English as a first language. These skills are so useful in everyday life but they are also really useful to have on your CV! I’ve got a lot better at using my initiative too. Callers can ring to talk about absolutely anything, and although we receive extensive training, we have to be able to think on our feet to respond to the caller in the best way.

If this does sound like something you’d like to get involved in we recruit new volunteers every October and February. Keep your eye on the volunteering page on the Students’ Union website for information about our recruitment.

Nightline is always here to listen but we will never lecture or judge you. No problem is too big or too small, whatever is on your mind you can talk to us about it. Don’t stay up all night worrying, if you think talking to someone might help don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Take care,

Nightline