Gig Buddies in a box
Gig Buddies matches up people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people with a volunteer who shares the same interests and passions. This enables people to:
- Be part of their community
- Broaden their interests
- Make new friends and increase their social networks
- Be more confident in going out to new places
It also supports people with their physical and mental well-being, all whilst they’re having fun. That’s why we call it ‘Serious Fun!’
Is it just about ‘gigs’?
No! It’s about whatever your ‘gig’ is. That could be live bands, clubbing, theatre, nature walks, parkruns, playing football, going to plays. We have buddies doing all these things and more.
Gig Buddies is all about enabling you to live the life you want and be part of community life.
Setting up Gig Buddies in your area
We can support you to get Gig Buddies going in your area so you can join the growing community of Gig Buddies Projects all supporting people to have great social lives.
We believe that Gig Buddies should look different in every place as everywhere has different needs and different cultural scenes. However, there are 4 things that can’t change and are what makes Gig Buddies special.
The 4 Principles of Gig Buddies
There are 4 key things which we think make Gig Buddies special, and which can’t be changed, or it’s not a Gig Buddies project:
1. About me!
People with learning disabilities deciding how they will lead their own lives
2. Community
Being active in your local community.
3. Culture
Going to gigs, theatre, walks, plays, whatever you’re in to.
4. Friendship
Having people in your life who aren’t paid to be there.
Getting started
The first step is to get in touch for a short conversation so we can find out more about you and your organisation.
We’ll talk you through how we support you and answer any questions you may have.
Joining the Gig Buddies community
When you join the Gig Buddies community you’ll receive training and ongoing support from us to make sure you get going as soon as possible.
You’ll also get:
- All our resources and training materials
- Logos and branding
- A bespoke website (if wanted – this costs extra)
- Join the community of Gig Buddies projects with our regular Zoom peer-support sessions
- In-person support from our team to train your co-ordinator
- Facilitation of your first volunteer training session
Costs
We have costed the licence so that we can give you proper support but to also keep it affordable as we know times are hard.
The licence costs £9,000 for the initial set up year.
Thereafter there is a £750 per year subscription.
Please note ‘Gig Buddies’ is also trademarked so you can be sure everyone is running it to our standards and to our ethos.
Ready for the next step?
Once you’ve decided you want to go ahead and set up your local Gig Buddies project we’ll ask you to complete a short application form.
We’ll then arrange a more in-depth meeting with you. We. charge £250 for this session and in it we’ll go through:
- The contents of the resources
- Outline of the training
- Draft budget so you can start fundraising for your project coordinator (the budget will also give you an idea of the number of people you can aim to support in a year)
- The main outcomes that we work to
How Gig Buddies started
Find out more about how Gig Buddies started and Paul’s TedX talk about it.
How Gig Buddies got started
Gig Buddies website
Do check out our Gig Buddies project website to get more of a feel of what it’s all about.
