Save Norwich Nightline
Save Norwich Nightline
The Issue
Who are we?
Norwich Nightline has provided mental health support to UEA students for over 50 years. Prior to covid, we were open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Covid and low volunteer recruitment heavily damaged the service. However, since September 2023, we have made a strong recovery. We have increased volunteer numbers from 10 to 58. We have gone from struggling to remain open for two nights a week, to being consistently open for three, and, in December 2024, in a good position to open for four.
What happened to us?
Over the Christmas holidays, our office flooded. Despite being in a university-owned building, UEA did not fix this. As a result, we have had to close for the entire term.
In February, the national Nightline Association (NLA) closed down - the NLA is distinct from Norwich Nightline, however, they provided technical support in running us, and they helped with the cost of insurance.
Responsibilities that previously fell to the NLA will now fall to the SU, who cannot afford to fund insurance that previously was covered by the NLA. The university itself will not provide funding.
What do we want?
We want to continue to improve our service; it is very possible to restore Nightline to what it was before covid: open for 12 hours, seven days a week. We constantly receive messages for people keen to volunteer for us, and we want to continue to provide this opportunity.
Therefore, we are asking UEA to cover our increased operating costs for one year - during which time, we will aim to meet targets they set for nights open, volunteers trained, and student use.
If Norwich Nightline closes now, it will never open again. The university will take away our space. The experience and institutional memory will be lost. Most of our committee will graduate, and first years will not know what Nightline is. There will now be no National Nightline Association to guide the creation of the service .
If you believe that students deserve free and confidential mental health support for problems as small as even a bad day, sign the petition. If you believe that students are capable of being trained to support each other in some of their most vulnerable moments, sign the petition.
Thank you.
believe empowered to support each other, help us.
1,142
The Issue
Who are we?
Norwich Nightline has provided mental health support to UEA students for over 50 years. Prior to covid, we were open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Covid and low volunteer recruitment heavily damaged the service. However, since September 2023, we have made a strong recovery. We have increased volunteer numbers from 10 to 58. We have gone from struggling to remain open for two nights a week, to being consistently open for three, and, in December 2024, in a good position to open for four.
What happened to us?
Over the Christmas holidays, our office flooded. Despite being in a university-owned building, UEA did not fix this. As a result, we have had to close for the entire term.
In February, the national Nightline Association (NLA) closed down - the NLA is distinct from Norwich Nightline, however, they provided technical support in running us, and they helped with the cost of insurance.
Responsibilities that previously fell to the NLA will now fall to the SU, who cannot afford to fund insurance that previously was covered by the NLA. The university itself will not provide funding.
What do we want?
We want to continue to improve our service; it is very possible to restore Nightline to what it was before covid: open for 12 hours, seven days a week. We constantly receive messages for people keen to volunteer for us, and we want to continue to provide this opportunity.
Therefore, we are asking UEA to cover our increased operating costs for one year - during which time, we will aim to meet targets they set for nights open, volunteers trained, and student use.
If Norwich Nightline closes now, it will never open again. The university will take away our space. The experience and institutional memory will be lost. Most of our committee will graduate, and first years will not know what Nightline is. There will now be no National Nightline Association to guide the creation of the service .
If you believe that students deserve free and confidential mental health support for problems as small as even a bad day, sign the petition. If you believe that students are capable of being trained to support each other in some of their most vulnerable moments, sign the petition.
Thank you.
believe empowered to support each other, help us.
1,142
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Petition created on 23 March 2025