Liverpool is launching telephone listening service Nightline

A night time telephone listening service for students, Nightline, is scheduled to be launched at uni  in February.

The University of Liverpool’s deputy president, Alex Ferguson, is launching the scheme that aims to “give students an accessible and more informal way to get support when needed.”

The overnight telephone listening service will be run by student volunteers from various universities across the country.

The service will be open between the hours of 8pm and 8am and allows students to talk about any issues or worries they may have with a fellow peer.

Alex Ferguson explains one of the main reasons he ran for Student Officer was because he wanted to “find a way to help students who were having a really hard time and not enjoying university.

Professional support from the University in these circumstances is available, however there isn’t a mechanism in place where students can get support from their peers out of typical working hours.”

Nightline aims to solve this problem by providing a night time listening service, and relies on student volunteers to do so.

Student Officer Alex Furguson is launching the scheme

Nightline’s national Psychological Distress research shows the importance of night time listening services, as findings suggest 54% of students said they were more likely to turn to a fellow student above an academic advisor.

Statistics also show that a third of students experiencing psychological distress suffered more so at night when university services were closed.

Alex Ferguson went on to say: “We need to break down barriers and make sure students don’t feel isolated –let’s reduce the amount of students who are facing hard times and give them the support and information they need to make their time here as rewarding as possible.

Therefore, I’m pleased to say we’re planning to launch our very own Nightline service in February next year.”

An essential part of Nightline is that it relies on student volunteers to run the service during the night.

Second year psychology student Yasmin explains why she applied to be a Nightline volunteer:  “I think it’s important to have this support network set up for students as it means you can call up about absolutely anything free of judgement.

It’ll be good to help those struggling in silence who just need that friendly voice to chat to.”

The service is currently looking for volunteers and only requires good listening skills as full training will be given.

More information and the application process can be found on the Guild website.