Norwich Nightline has announced its complete and permanent closure, citing a decision from the UEA Student Services and the Student Union (SU).

The SU stated that funding for the service “was no longer sufficient to ensure that the service could run safely”.

The decision follows three months of discussion between the Nightline Committee, UEA Student Services, and the SU after the closure of the National Nightline Association (NLA). 

A petition calling on the UEA to support the service for an additional academic year had gathered almost 900 signatures from students and staff. 

On June 9, the Norwich Nightline Committee confirmed a decision by the UEA Student Services’ and the SU to completely close Norwich Nightline on Instagram.

According to their statement, the SU had initially cited a lack of funds for indemnity insurance, and later attributed their decision to an “insufficient level of SU support staff or resources to act in line with [their] insurance policy”.

Despite attending a meeting in May, the Committee claims that they were excluded from a separate discussion between the SU, UEA Student Services, and head of the NLA.

They allege that the final decision to close the service was communicated only hours before a scheduled meeting with the Committee and UEA Student Services in early June. 

Mikey Umney, one of the Nightline External Co-ordinators, said: “there was no meaningful effort from either party [UEA Student Services or the SU] to find sustainable solutions to keep us going”.

He adds that the Committee was given “no opportunities” to  understand the staffing, resource, or finance requirements of the SU’s insurance policy or to “meet with the people who had genuine decision-making powers.”

The closure of Norwich Nightline marks the end of a 53-year-old service that provided out-of-hours listening services for UEA and Norwich University of the Arts students.

Led by trained student volunteers, Nightline operated under a strict policy of confidentiality, anonymity, non-advisory, non-directional, and no judgement to support students in vulnerable moments.

Its unique model of anonymised peer-to-peer support provided an additional service that was easily accessible for students living both on and off campus — complementing, but distinct from, formal mental health services provided by the university and external charities. 

The service received guidance, logistical help, and indemnity insurance from the now-defunct NLA, which announced in February that it would cease operations from the end of June.

It cited a “difficult funding landscape, declining volunteer numbers, and increasing costs” as reasons for its closure.

While Norwich Nightline operated independently from the NLA, its continued operation was dependent on institutional funding from the UEA or SU.

The UEA and SU did not respond to Concrete’s request for comment or clarification on their decision. 

In their final address, the Norwich Nightline Committee writes:

“We are very sorry that everyone has let you down this way […] you deserve a safe, confidential and non-judgemental listening service run for students, by students. 

“Even though we will not be around anymore, we will continue to advocate for increased support for student mental health, and we call on UEA and UEASU to do better.”

University residential life services and existing helplines such as Samaritans and Shout remain available for students seeking mental health support.

Umney suggests those wishing to share their views to contact the SU’s full-time officers or UEA Student Services at studentsupport@uea.ac.uk, or to sign the #SaveNightline petition at https://www.change.org/p/save-norwich-nightline. 

Image: Creative Commons