Hi Everyone!

Catch Up With Patch is back for this year! Welcome back to all returners and hello to all the Freshers!

The last few weeks have been crazy for myself, and the Nightline volunteers, promoting the service at as many freshers and returners events as possible. If you're a Fresher, welcome to the blog! I am Patch and I am the mascot for Nottingham Nightline. I attend events and nights out with the lovely Nightline volunteers and meet as many of you as possible

This year was the first time I have attended the freshers events for both the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent. And, I have loved it! I have met so many fresh faces and partied with as many of you as possible. I have also attended a few returners events, just to remind all of you that Nightline is still there for you.

I'm going to include a load of pictures for you to laugh at from the first few weeks of uni this year, but first I juts wanted to remind you what Nottingham Nightline provide for you, as students. We are a student run service who are committed to listening to your problems, and providing you with information. We are open 7pm-8am every night during term time, and we are prepared to listen to whatever problems you may be facing. No problem is too little, or too big, for us! Just ring 0115 951 4985.
If you prefer not to speak on the phone, we also offer an online chat service that can be found on our main website. This works a bit like MSN, except without the embarrassing email address as you are anonymous to us. You choose your name, and that is all we can see of you. We then also have an anonymous email address for you to contact us through, this is nightlineanon@nottingham.ac.uk. We will reply within 48 hours and you can contact us for any non-urgent information, or if you'd like to talk through any problems.
We also provide a Skype service. If you add 'nottingham.nightline', you can voice call us and this will come through to our phones. This is particularly useful if you don't want to use your phone minutes, or credit.
Finally, there is our PostSecret service. You can submit your secrets online and through the post. To submit online, follow this link http://www.nottinghamnightline.co.uk/#/postsecret/4578069641 and to send a postcard through the post the address is: Nightline, PO Box 10368, Nottingham, NG6 6DD. The PostSecret service is very popular among students, you can add pictures to your secrets, or wait to see the picture we have added for you. Every single secret gets added to the site so remember to look out for yours after you've posted it!

I hope that has explained everything, but if it hasn't, feel free to contact us in any way you prefer asking about what we do. If you'd like to volunteer as well, we currently are recruiting; just download the application form from here, and follow the instructions: http://www.nottinghamnightline.co.uk/#/listening-volunteer/4578074082.

Now, for the pictures! The timelines of photos I did last year were very popular so I thought I had to start with one this year.

First up, it's the Trent Army.

Because bouncers might need us, too...

Our NTU Publicity Officer Brooke hogging all of the Free Hug tokens. 

Showing everyone up on the dancefloor.

My head seems to be a, sort of, sanctuary for this Trent Fresher. 

Group pic with the reps!

Our Free Hugs token appears to be being used in some form of gun hand gesture in this picture. Not sure this is what we aimed for. In fact, completely sure this is not what we aimed for.

I love giving hugs!

Not my best side.

I get all the girls, I get all the girls. 

Even the reps wanted Free Hugs!

Finally, another group photo with the reps!

I know you all had a great time at the Trent Fresher nights, and it was so fun to be a part of it. Thank you to everyone who came and asked who I was and enquired about Nightline. Remember to tell all your friends about us!

Here's UoN now..

Prepping myself for the event.

I swear I'm not that short, they're just really tall.

Patch gives the best hugs! So good you might even fall asleep mid-hug!

Woah! I said Free hugs not kisses!

The boy on the left appears to be having dinner. And dinner is my ear.

So...maybe I photo-bombed.

Some of our Publicity Volunteers!

Some very excited freshers!

Lifeguards at Baywatch.

On the bus back at the end of the week! What a great time!

I hope you've enjoyed those timelines of your freshers events. To find any of these pictures, just go to the Nottingham Nightline Facebook page. If you like the page, you will be able to tag yourself in all of the photos you are in. Also, please do follow us on Twitter @NottsNightline for updates and reminders on how to get in contact with us.

This is going to be a great year for Nightline and I hope as many of you get involved with us, and use the service, as possible. We are here for you!

See you next week!

Patch
xox

Hello everyone and welcome to the final blog post of this academic year! 
We've had a really successful year and this blog is just to tie up the theme of the last two posts. 

This year we expanded Nightline to cover Nottingham Trent University and so far this has been a success! Congratulations to everyone who was able to make that happen and thank you to all our Trent Nightliners who took the plunge and got involved! A massive thank you as well to everyone who has helped with publicity at Trent, it's been a hard task becoming established over there and this job is still ongoing. Next year if you'd like to get involved with helping with that, please contact us on our email addresses or through our Facebook pages and there are always opportunities to get involved! 

Again thanks to all volunteers that have helped Nightline stay open throughout this year, we couldn't do it without you! We've had a very successful year of taking calls, IMs, emails, postsecrets and publicising Nightline! Well done! If you want to see photos of some of the events Nightline have attended this year please have a look at the blog post from two weeks ago where I uploaded a timeline with captions and photos. 

Instead of the bad bear joke of the week, this week I'm going to include some quotes from Winnie the Pooh to keep with the bear theme.

'How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard' ~ This quote is relevant to all third years leaving Nightline who those leaving who have used Nightline. We wish you good luck in life and thank you. 

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.” ~ I've included this quote to serve as a reminder that Nightline is here for you all of summer. We keep our email and PostSecret services open for you to keep in contact with us if you'd like to. You may not be at university over summer, but Nightliners are dedicating to making sure you have someone to speak to. 

I hope you all have a fantastic summer. I'll be returning to where my parents live for the summer and meeting up with all my friends from Bear School. Have a great time and keep in touch!

Here's a few more pictures, you know I love them! 

Thank you everyone who has given me a hug this year, taken a pen, used a lighter or partied with me in Ocean. It's been a great year! 

Patch xx

Hi Everyone,

It's been a big week this week! The Farmers Market was on at Sutton Bonington on Wednesday and I had a great time! Thank you Maggie, Agata, Hannah and Reema for coming with me. We gave out lots of the famous Nightline pens and I loved meeting the students and residents of Sutton Bonington! We are making plans for me to visit SB a lot more next year, which I'm very excited for too!

It's been a busy week for Nightline volunteers themselves, too. Congratulations to all of the new committee members and I know everyone had a great time at the end of year social last night! Although some of you were looking very blurry eyed by the end of the night....
But now would be the perfect time to thank all Nightliners for their hard work throughout the year. Good luck to any volunteers who are leaving us this year and have a great summer the rest of you!

If you would like to contact Nottingham Nightline throughout the summer period, we keep our email services open. You can send us a completely anonymous email at nightlineanon@nottingham.ac.uk and we aim to reply in 48 hours. 

On top of this, why not use our PostSecret website if you don't want to email? Go to http://www.nottinghamnightline.co.uk/#/postsecret/4562430466 and post me your secrets! We then turn your secret into an image if you don't provide one yourself. 

Post me a secret. You aren't the only one who talks to a bear.

Next week will be my final weekly post of this year. I may post a few random blogs to keep you updated on my summer throughout the months we are all away though. I'll make next week a big one!

Patch 

***Bad Bear Joke of the Week***

Q: What is a bear's favorite drink?

A: Koka-Koala! 

Hello everyone!

Me again. This week I've been busy still promoting our 24 hour opening times! This is our FINAL week of being open during the day AND night, so please do call us if you have something that you'd like to talk about, need some information or would just like someone to talk to.

I've still been busy this week with volunteers handing out our Nightline study packs with our custom water bottles. We've also been handing flyers out under the doors of halls.

Limited Edition, I hope you got yours!

Seeing as we are coming to the end of the academic year, I thought I would post some of my favourite photos of friends and I from throughout this year. As expected, a majority of them are from Ocean, my second home (maybe even first).

I really felt a connection with this guy.

Because bears have deadlines too...

It was honestly an honour to meet Snow White and Minnie Mouse who had been such influences as a cub.

I needed rescuing from the crazy dancefloor of Ocean.

I've tried for so long to think of a caption for this and I'm afraid I've failed you.

I like to be early. 

Before I found my calling in life (being the Nightline Bear) I dabbled in a few things,

Not many people know this, but I'm actually very musically gifted. They asked me to join One Direction but I was busy.

Doing my abs workouts. How do you think I stay in such great shape?

Myself and Lizzie, one of the Nightline Coordinators, at one of the Varsity games!

There's only room for one bear in this city....

FRESHERS WEEK. The week people fell asleep on me. 

So finally, we made it all the way back to Freshers Week! I hope you enjoyed that! Good luck to everyone still with exams, I hope they go well.

Patch



*** Bad Bear Joke of the Week***
Q: What do you call a big white bear with a hole in his middle? 
A: A polo bear!
 

I know you read my end of blog jokes like this, but I can't BEAR to stop!

Hello everyone! 

We are celebrating something special this week. As of last night, Nottingham Nightline has currently been open for a total of.... 312 hours!! Thank you to all Nightline volunteers for supporting both the universities through the exam period! 

This week has been a busy one for me! We've been handing out water bottles and study packs in the university libraries all week for all of you who haven't finished yet! Today, I'm going to be handing out Nightline water bottles on the Jubilee campus for Nottingham University students, so look out for me! 

This week Kate and Lizzie from the Nightline committee did an interview on the radio talking about Nightline and the exam period! I hope as many of you as possible tuned in, I did and thought they did a great job! The interviewers mentioned they didn't realise that Nightline are an information service too, you can call us to ask any information related questions! Whether you need taxi numbers or ocean ticket links; we're ready to help! 

Don't forget to attend Hallward tomorrow (Monday 27th) where there will be the Hallward Fever event ran by URN! We will be there handing out study packs and general Nightline goodies.

Thanks for reading this week, we are still open 24 hours if you'd like to talk about anything with us, we're here to listen! 

I hope everyone is enjoying the sun and come back next week! 

Patch 

**Bad Bear Joke of the Week**

Why don't Polar Bears eat Penguins?

Because they can't get the wrappers off. 

Hello everyone!

We are now fully into the official exam periods for both universities! Good luck to everyone that has exams and I hope revision is going well. Just a reminder that Nightline are still open 24 hours at the moment, feel free to contact us whenever you need.
This week I've been to many events meeting people! I attended the Rugby Varsity with some of the Nightline Publicity Team and actually quite fancy myself as a rugby player in the future... watch this space. Thanks to Jess, Gem and Sophie for taking me!

Me trying to prove I can play rugby, but ending up looking like I'm doing the Saturday Night Fever pose.

It was lovely to meet the Trent Cheerleading Team, too! Thanks for being so nice!

I also attended the Cripps Healthy U Roadshow! I loved meeting some of the Freshers there and had a great time! Again, thanks for Reema, Hazel and Jamie for coming with me!

I was VERY nervous about how this could have turned out.

I had a great time with you girls, thank you!

This has been quite a busy week, but with the revision on my desk calling my name I can't write for much longer!
I decided it would be fun to compile a list of Patch's Top 5 Revision Songs! So here it is..

1. Passenger - Let Her Go. Unless you're going through a break-up and are susceptible to crying, this is a great song to listen to!

2. I Need Your Love - Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding.

3. Gentleman - Psy..... Just joking! The real number 3 is Pompeii - Bastille.

4. Ho Hey - The Lumineers

5. Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell. I know this is overplayed at the moment but it's perfect background music when you're trying to get your head around your work!

If you have any better song suggestions, feel free to comment on this post!

Thanks for reading and good luck again with exams!


Patch



***Bad Bear Joke of the Week***

Why do bears have fur coats?

Because they'd look stupid in anoraks!

Hey guys,

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Nightline's 24 HOUR opening! We do this every year through exam period. Exam period can be very stressful and there's nothing wrong with needing someone to talk to. As exam periods have officially started at both Nottingham Universities, I've decided to compile a list of my Top Tips for getting through revision and exams!


1. Make a revision timetable with regular breaks. It's the easiest way to organise your study time. Make sure you leave time for some fun activities that you enjoy, you don't need to revise every minute of every day! Have a break!

2. Know when and where you work best. If you prefer working in the library, make sure you're up early every day to get a space there. If you work best at home, keep your room clean and desk clear. Create the conditions you prefer most.

3. Eat and drink well. It's easy to get so stressed about revision that you forget to eat! Make sure you do this or you won't be able to really focus on your revision or exam.

4. If you can, talk about exams with those in the same situation as you. The more you speak about it, the easier it can become to deal with for some people. Most students are going through the same worries and dilemmas about revision that you are; support eachother!

5. Use Nightline! If you find yourself really stressed at 4 in the morning and can't sleep; we're here to listen!

6. Take a break and have a look through our PostSecrets website. It may take your mind off exams for a while!

7. SLEEP AND RELAX!


I hope those tips help! I've attached a few photos below of my visit to Ocean this week, have a look at the captions too. A big thank you to Kat, Melissa and Seona for coming with me!

Good luck in exams everyone, Patch is rooting for you!!

Myself and a few other Ocean-goers. 

I'm all for giving free hugs, but this guy took liberties! I had to inform him I only fancy other bears. :(

Patch and the new Environment and Social Justice Officer for next year - Mike! 

*** Bad Bear Joke of the Week (this one truly is awful) ***

Which bear saw the accident?

The neighbear.

Hello!

It's week 3 of my blog and I hope people are still reading!

With the exam period approaching for most, and having already started for some, I want to reiterate how important it is that all students of Nottingham University and Nottingham Trent University know that you can call Nightline. The exam period can cause a lot of stress and Nightline volunteers are ready to listen to your concerns.

If you're worried about an exam the next day, Nightline is here.
If you are having problems with your housemates: Nightline is here. 

If you're feeling lazy and don't want to look up a take away number: Nightline is here. 

If you're battling a disorder and want to talk to someone who won't judge: Nightline is here. 

I could go on and on, with the risk of getting annoying, but I hope it's clear that no problem is too big or small. If you have something you'd like to talk about, or information you'd like to enquire about, then please call us! We are students ready to help other students.

Now I must turn to an even more serious note. Patch has a confession to make. It's taken some time to come to terms with. But I think it's happened....... I am addicted......addicted to Ocean. Students each year are overtaken by 'Ocean Devotion' and I have finally succumbed. When I hear that opening tune of B*Witched - C'est La Vie, I know it's time to jump (a lot) and and practice my 'oh-oh's and 'hey-heys'. I've been there every week since we've returned from Easter and don't plan on stopping. A big thank you to the volunteers who came with me on Friday to the Nottingham University Ocean night, I would like to make a special thanks to you for not letting anyone steal my head for the first time!

Finally, look out for me giving out FREE HUGS and study packs with our Nightline Volunteers over the next few weeks during the exam period. Please do come and say hi if you see us!

Thank you for reading this weeks blog and I hope to see you next week again!

Patch 

***Bad Bear Joke of the Week***

What's black and white and black and white and black and white?

A panda rolling down a hill.

Thank you to Daisy Bareham for doing this lovely painting of me!