What to expect from Nightline

Nightline's primary aims are to run a service that is:

We also have policies on returning calls (and reverse charging).

Being unbiased; non-judgemental, non-directive, non-aligned

In supporting you, Nightline aims to allow you the freedom to make your own decisions through the exploration of your feelings and circumstances.

Nightline is not here to tell you what to do in your situation, but rather to help you to see your solutions and alternatives by talking your circumstances through with another friendly, interested and genuine person.

Nightline is a non-aligned body; and volunteers will not judge any caller, or influence them with their own convictions.

Volunteers will not press their opinions, their beliefs, their advice, their views or their judgements on any caller.

Nightline is apolitical, areligious and must not be used in any election campaign.

Although we are non-directive this does not mean the volunteer will be passive and only listen to you.

Confidentiality

Whatever is talked about in either a phone call or e-mail will remain confidential within Nightline. That is, a volunteer will never give out any information about, or discuss, a caller to someone who is not a current Nightline volunteer.

No information about a caller will be passed to any outside organisation without the consent of the individual concerned.

We will only break this confidentiality if we are passed information about planned acts of terrorism or bomb warnings.

Anonymity

Anonymity is important for everyone’s protection and applies to both sides: callers and volunteers.

You will never be asked to identify yourself. You may give as much or as little information about yourself as you wish. Nightline will not make efforts to identify individuals using their services.

Volunteers will maintain their anonymity at all times and not reveal that they are a Nightline volunteer to anyone outside of the organisation. They too will not be required to give any personal details to you, a caller.

One exception to this is the Nightline Co-ordinator, who are the public figures of the organisation. Their anonymity may be dropped in order to carry out tasks associated with their role.

Calling back

You always have the option to ask for the volunteer to call you back, no matter where you are calling from.

Reverse charge calls from the local area can be accepted, at the discretion of the volunteers on duty.

Data Protection

Bristol Nightline deals with confidential details so all information on our callers is protected under the Data Protection Act 1998 and is handled appropriately. As such Bristol Nightline has undergone notification with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Ethical Responsibilities

In addition to safeguarding the welfare of our callers and volunteers, Bristol Nightline values it's ethical responsibilities so where possible supports the Fairtrade foundation and recycles waste in line with university policy.