So many charities have found the last year challenging, with a number having to close, and unfortunately, we as an umbrella organisation are in the same boat. It is the hardest decision to make, but one we’ve really considered, reflected on, and made with a heavy heart. We have to close our doors. Thankfully, it’s not immediate. It will be in the next 3 months, as we want to ensure everything is in the best place possible, so that Nightlines can continue to exist and support students when others aren’t awake.
I’ve been so fortunate to lead this incredible organisation, this incredible team. I am so proud of all that the organisation has achieved, of the thousands of hours our volunteers have given over the last twenty years formally as the Association, and more before then too. However, we must recognise when the landscape is changing and ask whether the Nightline Association, as we know it, is best placed to shape and support Nightlines going forward. The combination of an incredibly tough funding landscape, along with an understandable reduction in behind-the-scenes volunteers at the Association, has brought us to this place.
Our Nightlines do incredible work, and I feel honoured to have worked alongside them. It’s been amazing to see that we’re now on a second, or in some cases third, generation of Nightline volunteers in families. Some students want to do it because their grandparents were listening volunteers. What a legacy. What an incredible movement to be part of. I’m hopeful that the spirit of collaboration between Nightlines that led to the Association’s founding in 2006 will continue, with its amassed decades of experience finding a new shared home. Finally, I am confident that Nightlines will continue their vital work for many years to come, and I will always be proud of the service Nightline volunteers deliver night in, night out.
