52 km Walking Challenge

Across one week from 23rd - 29th June eight Durham Nightline's public facing volunteers will be walking a combined total of 416 kilometres, raising money to support Nightline's listening service. This corresponds to 52 km each, one kilometre for every year Durham Nightline has been open. As part of this, they'll be completing a 35 km hike from Durham to Bishop Auckland and back on 25th June.

For each donation milestone reached, we'll also be adding bonus challenges for our volunteers taking part in the challenge to complete.

What is Durham Nightline?

Durham Nightline is a listening service, run by students, for students at Durham University. We’re open during the night, when other support services may be closed. We offer a non-judgemental space for students to talk anonymously about whatever is on their mind, either on the phone or via instant messaging.

Durham Nightline has been offering a confidential listening service to Durham University students since 1973, after being set up by three students who volunteered for Samaritans. They felt that some students may feel reluctant to approach people outside of the university community and would find it easier and more relatable to speak to another student. Our volunteers have been here through the night ever since.

Why support Durham Nightline?

Despite being over 50 years old, Durham Nightline is needed more than ever. Research has shown that 72% of university students who feel distressed suffer this at night, and in the last decade alone, there has been a 450% increase in the number of students declaring a mental health condition, with more recent data showing that the incidence of mental health difficulties among students has risen from 6% in 2017 to 16% in 2023.

In 2023-24, we answered over 300 calls and instant messages and our volunteers spent over 2000 hours on shift, ready to answer calls from Durham students in need. 87% of those who contact Nightline report feeling their mental wellbeing improve after the call, demonstrating the difference having someone willing to listen on the other end of the phone can make.

We are here for every single one of the 21,588 Durham university students. Donating £14.68 will help us cover the cost of supporting 25 of those students for one year.

Your support will help us continue to fund the operation of our listening service covering equipment and IT costs, and help us support our volunteers by, for example, covering the cost of a taxi home after a shift. You'll also help us fund publicity initiatives, helping us raise awareness of Nightline to ensure that as many students as possible know that we are there for them if they ever need us.