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► Frequently Asked Questions

What is Leicester Nightline?

Leicester Nightline is an information, listening and support telephone service for students at DMU and Leicester Uni. It is run by students and is open every night for calls from 8pm to 8 am. Other than some sub-wardens, it is the only service available for students overnight. For more info on Nightline, check out the section about Nightline.

Is it just in Leicester?

No its not. it is for all DMU and Leicester students, so that includes Bedford and Associate Colleges as well. Leicester Nightline is also are part of a national organisation called National Nightline, which links over 50 nightlines around the country. There are also nightlines set up in other countries!!! To see more about the national organisation, click here.

What do Nightliners do?

Nightliners run this service. They are willing to listen to a caller for however long the caller wants and to discuss absolutely anything. As well as getting involved in call taking, Nightliners also run this service from sorting the money, to running awareness campaigns and keeping information up to date. They also get involved in training new Nightliners.

When does Nightline run?

Nightline is open from 8 pm to 8 am every night during term time.

How many student do we cater for?

Leicester Nightline provided a service for 40,000 students from both and De Montfort University and the University of Leicester.

Why do people call?

People call for all sorts of reasons, from needing a pizza number to wanting to talk about a problem troubling them. People even call to have a chat. We accept all types of call. See our Calling us page for more.

How many calls do you get?

This can vary and is something we can never predict. We very rarely have nights where we don't receive any calls, but mostly we have a steady flow of calls throughout the evenings. We can become especially busy around exam periods.

How many Nightliners are there?

Each year, as students leave university, our numbers decrease, so we run two training sessions a year. We aim to keep a minimum of 30 volunteers, but there is no upper limit.

Who can be a Nightliner?

To be a Nightliner, there are a few things you must do:

You must be a registered student at either De Montfort University in Leicester, or a University of Leicester student.
You must be a member of the Students' Union of the institution which you attend.
You must fill out an application form.
You must attend an interview, and then be selected for training.
You must complete all training requirements to a satisfactory level. The training dates are on the application form.

What happens in training?

Training is supervised by an elected Training Officer. When you are accepted for training, you will be assigned to two experienced Nightliners who will show you all about being a Nightliner. Training is intense, but worthwhile. As well as there being Nightliners training you, experts in various fields are invited to inform you on many areas which you may have to deal with as a Nightliner.

Do I do duties by myself?

In a word, no. There are always at least two people on duty, which make up Nightline. More are always on call if needed.

How often do I have to do duties?

Generally, we ask that volunteers aim to do one duty per fortnight, with at least one Friday or Saturday night per semester. Although this is what most people aim for, we are really flexible.

Do I have to stay awake all night?

No, but you can if you want.

When are the training sessions run?

Two training sessions are run each year. Training sessions run during October and February. Dates are subject to change, to suit the needs of the service.

Why can't I tell people I'm joining?

We are an anonymous service for a few reasons. The main reason we keep our own anonymity is because we may know many of the people who want to use our service. If they knew what we did, it may put them off from calling.

Who are the volunteers?

Volunteers come from all courses, at all levels, throughout all years, from both institutions. We operate an equal opportunities selection process and do not tolerate any discrimination throughout the service. Unlike other student groups, we do select individuals on personal qualities and suitability for the service, as we have limited places on our training sessions. We also regret that we cannot accept students in their final year onto our spring training sessions.

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