Bristol Nightline closes its online messaging and phone call service after 40 years

Bristol Nightline, a mental health support service for Bristol students, has closed its phone line and instant messaging services.

The group previously worked to provide confidential, anonymous listening via phone and text from 8pm-8am during term time.

With the tagline, “We’ll Listen, Not Lecture”, Bristol Nightline was run by Bristol University students as part of the wider network of 25 Nightlines in universities across the UK and Ireland.

The Nightline Association (NLA) confirmed its line closure, effective Monday 30th June 2025, due to challenges in the charity sector, including funding difficulties and a decline in volunteer members.

The Bristol Nightline website says that “while other Nightlines up and down the country will be continuing to run, after discussions with the Bristol SU, we have come to the agreement that Bristol Nightline will not be able to do so.”

On an Instagram post announcing the closure, Bristol Nightline assured students that this was not the end.

Although the closure has come as a shock for many students, Nightline will remain as a student society at Bristol Uni.

The society will focus on training new volunteers and hosting peer-to-peer support sessions to maintain a supportive student network, as well as reaching out to other mental health charities to raise money and awareness for their causes.

The Bristol Tab spoke to Nightline about the changes. The team said: “Whilst we do understand the motivations behind it, we are disappointed by the SU and university’s decision that Bristol Nightline phonelines and IM had to close.

“That being said, regardless of the phone lines closing, we still recognise how important peer-to-peer support remains within the student community and we know Nightline holds a unique position within that.

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“We are also incredibly proud of the work our volunteers have been doing to establish what comes next for us, closing the phone lines will not mean our support for students ends. We are already in the process of engaging with the student community to find ways of filling that space.

“We’re feeling positive about the engagement we’ve had on our launch post and would encourage anyone who’s passionate about student mental health to come forward and get involved!”

If you are passionate about student mental health and would like to get involved with being a volunteer, you can join here, or go to Bristol Nightline’s Instagram for more information.

This is not the first Nightline to close across the country, with Manchester Nightline closing back in October 2023.

The University of Bristol has now encourages students to use TalkCampus, an online peer-to-peer mental health support network launched in 2020 by Talk Life.

TalkCampus now supports over 250 institutions and millions of students globally. Similarly to Nightline, students can sign up to be volunteers, known as TalkCampus buddies. Volunteers are trained in active listening and self-care and are asked to commit 5-6 hours per week.

A spokesperson for Bristol SU said: “The decision to transition Bristol Nightline away from a listening service was not taken lightly. We’ve worked closely with the Nightline committee and the University to understand the challenges the service has been facing.

Featured image via Instagram @bristolnightline