Listening Volunteers
Bristol Nightline is a volunteer organisation. We rely on student volunteers to run our phoneline and Instant Messaging services.
Volunteering at Bristol Nightline can be a very rewarding experience. As a volunteer you can be a part of a service that supports people when they need it the most, and help fight stigma surrounding mental health. Volunteering can help you develop skills that you can use in other areas of your life, and gain experience in the mental health sector.
Role Description
Listening Volunteers work in small groups to answer calls and respond to messages during night shifts. Their responsibilities include:
- signing up to at least three night shifts every term (minimum 36 hours time commitment per term)
- volunteering on site at the Nightline office, located near the UOB campus
- providing a listening ear to callers on calls concerning a range of topics
- showing high levels of empathy, sincerity and acceptance towards callers
- remaining calm during potentially distressing calls
- providing information to callers who request it
- adhering to Nightline values, policies and call-taking techniques
- logging all communications on our online system
- attending welfare meetings and ongoing training sessions organised by Bristol Nightline
All successful applicants complete at least 16 hours of rigorous training, plus 36 hours of shift observation, before becoming a fulling trained Nightline Volunteer.
Successful applicants will demonstrate:
- a good understanding of how Nightline operates
- clear motivations
- dedication to commit to long-term volunteering
- enthusiasm to learn
- high levels of empathy
- their status as a registered student at the University of Bristol (not in TB2 of their final year)
Previous experience working or volunteering with mental health services is not required.
All Nightline volunteers go through training and are supported thoroughly throughout their volunteering. We are committed to the welfare of each of our volunteers and we have a dedicated management team and welfare officers, as well as established and easily-accessible forms of tailored wellbeing support. We are a mental health service, but above all we are a society, and we aim for our volunteers to feel part of a community. Being a volunteer is not all serious; we hold social events every fortnight for our volunteers to come together, relax and have fun.
To apply, interested individuals should complete our Listening Volunteer Application Form.