With NiteLine’s student listening service, no problem is too big or small

For more than 30 years, NiteLine’s volunteers have been working late into the night to provide a compassionate listening ear to third-level students. NiteLine began as a collaboration between the Students’ Unions of Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin and has now grown to become an independent charity, providing a valuable and much needed service to more than 150,000 students, in eleven third-level institutions across the country.

NiteLine is a voluntary organisation that provides a free listening and information service to students in Ireland. Students can talk to a trained volunteer by phone (1800 793 793) or by the charity’s instant messaging platform accessible via the website NiteLine.ie. Alongside the listening service, NiteLine also facilitates a wide range of workshops and events on college campuses to promote student mental health and wellbeing.

NiteLine is a truly unique service as it is run by students for students, providing peer-to-peer support. Each volunteer can empathise with and understand their callers, because they too are navigating the changes and challenges of higher education. NiteLine is the only service of its kind in Ireland that is run for students, by students. NiteLine follows the motto “no problem is too big or too small”, and volunteers are trained to deal with calls relating to everything from college stress and loneliness, to sexual assault and suicide.

NiteLine’s call-taking philosophy is based on four pillars: anonymous, confidential, non-judgemental and non-directive. These pillars reassure callers that they can talk about whatever is on their minds, in a safe space free from judgment. NiteLine volunteers are here to listen and help talk through the caller’s feelings; they are not here to tell the caller what to do or offer advice.

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Every volunteer undergoes 24 hours of training and the service is supported by the counselling service in each of the affiliated colleges.

The greatest testament to NiteLine’s value is the feedback from those anonymous students who have called the service:

“NiteLine was really helpful for me and it made me feel like I wasn’t alone with some of the difficult things I was experiencing in college.”

“I found it calming and it was somewhere safe to go to when I was in distress or needed someone to just listen to me. They helped reassure me and put things into perspective for me.”

“It was really good. I was able to talk through my situation and they were just really sound and listened and were really kind to me.”

NiteLine is not just an important resource for its callers, it is also an important community for its volunteers. “Volunteering is absolutely the best thing I ever did in college”, says Alex de Búrca, who has been volunteering with NiteLine for four years, “There is something really special about answering the phone to a fellow student who is in distress. It is really important that they have the confidence to pick up the phone and reach out for help, and it’s an honour that they trust us at NiteLine to listen to what’s on their mind.”

Every volunteer undergoes 24 hours of training, usually conducted over a four-week period at the end of the summer. NiteLine’s volunteers are supported by the affiliated colleges’ counselling service. Volunteers attend support meetings where a trained and experienced counsellor is on hand to support the welfare of all volunteers.

Students from colleges affiliated with NiteLine are encouraged to apply to volunteer with the organisation. Applications can be found on our website niteline.ie/volunteer.

NiteLine is made possible by funding from its affiliate colleges and generous donations from the public. Whether a coffee morning, raffle, table quiz or ball, every little helps us to expand our service and reach even more students. If you are interested in fundraising for NiteLine, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@niteline.org.

NiteLine is open from 9pm to 2.30am, seven nights a week during the academic year. Students can contact a volunteer by phone at 1800 793 793 or by instant messaging at niteline.ie. NiteLine is affiliated with Dublin Business School, Dublin City University, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dún Laoghaire, Maynooth University, National College of Art and Design, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Technological University Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and University of Limerick