Back to our roots for #StayUpLateWeek with a night of loud guitars, big energy and even bigger grins ⚡ For one buddy, it was their first ever rock gig—and they absolutely loved it. A powerful reminder of why inclusive, accessible spaces matter. We hope your Stay Up Late week is going well! 🎸

#StayUpLateWeek has officially started! 🎉🕺 This week is about choice, freedom, friendship – and making noise about the right to have a real social life. Let’s make this the loudest, funnest and most joyful #StayUpLateWeek yet. Let’s party with purpose.

🚨 We want to hear from YOU! 🚨 Take five minutes to complete our survey and let us know if you can stay up late! We want to understand how people with learning disabilities and autistic people are spending their evenings. forms.gle/wKoiDJXNP8ZL... #SelfAdvocate #LearningDisability #NoBedtimes

📅 5th–11th May 2025 is Stay Up Late Week – and everyone’s invited. You can join in too: 💜 Plan your own night out 💜 Share your photos and stories using #StayUpLateWeek 💜 Tell us why you think it’s important Let’s show the world that a good life doesn’t end at 9pm.

A huge THANK YOU to the brilliant team at @resident-music.com for raising money to support our work! 💙 We’re so grateful for your generosity—and for choosing to back a charity that believes everyone should have the right to a fun social life, full of music, no matter their support needs!

Partners Day 2025 👏 Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such an interesting day! We feel excited for what’s to come… We did forget to take a photo with the full group, so this was a last minute selfie to save the day (Thanks Sorrel)!

A great read from our partners up in Scotland: www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interv...

Great day for a raffle 🖤

DJ Dan on the decks 🕺 Dark Globe on next And don’t forget our @gigbuddies.bsky.social charity raffle at 6:30pm!

This Saturday we have 3 turntables to be won in our annual charity raffle for @gigbuddies.bsky.social 🥳 You could get your hands on: - Audio Technica LP60XBT (donated by @richersounds.com) - Brad Retro MK II Turntable or a Solar Edition Turntable (donated by Gadhouse) More info below 👇

🌙 Safer in Sussex – we want to hear from you! We’re planning a project to find out what helps people feel safe on nights out. It’s a big issue for many of our Gig Buddies, and we want to start some real conversations—with the community and those working in safety. Save the date & come along! 💬👀

Calling all Brightonians (and further afield, it's worth it)! Thanks ‪@resident-music.com for never failing to support us AND smashing @recordstoredayuk.bsky.social every year!

Brighton and West Sussex Socials livening up your local pubs! Our socials are a great opportunity to meet new people and get involved in the Gig Buddies community 🎉 #VolunteerOpportunity #LearningDisability #Friends

Rohan & Florence headed to @uniofbrighton.bsky.social to run a workshop for newly qualified #SocialWorkers, sharing insights on how to make care truly #person-centred — and what that actually means in practice! 👏🖤

We have some goodies for people! First up, the Boominator – make a donation or come collect it for free. We’d like it to go to a home that rocks our values! #HeavyLoad We also have some old t-shirts (in dif sizes so message us before) that you can come collect too!

Our buddies had a riot at a Fat Freddie And The Queens' gig. A perfect example of how to make people feel included however they like to party. Read Malcolm’s bog to hear more about the night 🕺 gigbuddies.org.uk/dont-stop-us...

We hear so many great stories from @ageukbradford.bsky.social and their Buddies project! Good luck with the book club and dinner club!

Just the book we were looking for 🖤

Another massive shoutout to The Hope & Ruin for all the fundraising they do. Even when celebrating their birthday they managed to share the love and raised £250 ❤ 10 years of great gigs and community – Here’s to 10 more! www.brightonandhovenews.org/2025/02/17/t...

Can you choose your bedtime? We want to know how adults with learning disabilities &/or autistic adults spend their evenings & if they can choose their bedtimes! If you have lived experience/support someone who does – please fill in our survey (online or easy read): stayuplate.org/the-stay-up-...

A great Gig Buddies social at Neurotune - a sensory-friendly gig in Brighton! 🎶 We had an awesome time & especially liked being able to go to the quiet room and play pool! Can’t wait till the next one 👀

Our buddies have been having a ball at recent matches! ⚽🎉 (Of course, all football allegiances are their own… and we’re totally not biased… SEAGULLS! 😉)

Happy Friday from two of our fine Gig Buddies! Have a great weekend and don’t forget to STAY UP LATE!✨🎶🎸

In our latest blog, Jaydog talks Pride. From the power of representation to the joy of celebrating exactly who you are, Jaydog reminds us why we should all keep making noise! 🎤✨ Read the full blog here: gigbuddies.org.uk/stay-up-late... #Pride #InclusionMatters #EqualAbleSexual #BeLoudBeProud

Gig Buddies Jess & Tom have been matched for over a year 🎉 They started off with bowling & getting to know each other, building up to Tom’s first gig in 17 years and an unforgettable trip to @thorpepark.bsky.social 🎢 Our buddies make a difference, not just as volunteers, but as friends.

If you're unsure about how to bring the Stay Up Late way into practice, this is a great place to start!

Pre order link included below. And all author profits to the very brilliant Stay Up Late mob via @gigbuddies.bsky.social #NoBedTimes #OurRightToParty

Big news: our Founder & Executive Director, Paul, is stepping down. Thank you for all you’ve done to make this charity what it is today. Your energy has made a lasting impact & we’ve no doubt you’ll keep making waves! To stay in touch with Paul - follow www.linkedin.com/in/heavyload/

Get to know the the organisations and projects providing great personalised and community-based support for people from Black, Asian, and other underrepresented communities. Are there any others that we should know about?

Welcome new Gig Buddies Maisie & Max, Bethan & Lauren and Ryan & Ellery! 🎶 Local gigs were on all their to do lists, with an extra side of vegan food-tourism for Ryan & Ellery, tasty!

For years, we’ve been taking adults with learning disabilities and autistic people to festivals and showing the world that music & dancing are for EVERYONE! 🎶 Our Stay Up Late Assistant (and festival-pro) Rohan shares his thoughts on how we can do even better: stayuplate.org/changing-tun...

Here’s our Manifesto for an Ordinary Life, a reminder of what we fight for. Having a learning disability should not stop you having an ordinary and fulfilling life!

Paul’s at his first football match, Tom’s hanging out with lead singers of cool bands and Chriso’s watching Jazz at the Brunswick. Our buddies are awesome without a doubt and their friendships opens up new doors every day. What would you do with your buddy?! #Volunteer

Big Wonderful News - there is now a Gig Buddies in Penrith, Cumbria! Welcome to the fam Gig Buddies Eden! 🥳👋 We have 22 Gig Buddies projects around the world and are growing all the time! Check out if there's a project near you: gigbuddies.org.uk/other-gig-bu...

They're not in my area (yet) but they might be in yours and if they are, I only hear amazing things about this project! If you love a thing, someone else probably loves the same thing, so why not go enjoy it together?

What does personalised care and support look like for people from ethnically diverse communities? And how can it be developed and improved? Kate Pieroudis explores with Shuranjeet Singh, Jazz Browne and Iggy Patel, thinking in new ways about inclusion and equity in social care. bit.ly/42nrDtO

A successful karaoke-fuelled night out, full of awesome duets, soloists and group singalongs! 🎶 Pitch perfect signing (ahem) is the perfect way to wash away the January blues! ✨

Important job call for our #Brighton community – email or call the number below for more information!

Lovely feedback from one of our fantastic Gig Buddies volunteer - thanks Sarah and we're glad you get lots out of it too 🫶 👀 gigbuddies.org.uk/be-a-gig-bud...

Introducing Gig Buddies 👋 our befriending project which pairs up adults with learning disabilities and/or autistic people with volunteers based on their shared interests. This can be music, theatre, art, sport - anything you love! This reconnects people with their community & combats isolation 👍👍👍

It’s 2025 and we’d like to introduce ourselves: we're a charity that fights for adults with learning disabilities and autistic people to have full and active social lives. We focus on nightlife, music and what really matters to people!

Happy New Year! We hope you welcomed in the new year with friends and family. Whether you’ve had a great year or a not so good year, we hope you got the chance to party with those you love most. Here’s to another year of fighting for the right to party and boshing social isolation on the head!

Wow what a year - with exciting Gig Buddies milestones, partying galore and new projects around the world! Dive into our Annual Review to see how we’ve been making a difference!🎉 stayuplate.org/2024-annual-...

A great @theguardian.com article on the different kinds of spaces that are out there and how we can all be a bit more inclusive! Thanks for chatting to us Liam - www.theguardian.com/music/2024/o...

We had a blast at our Gigmas party! 🎄 We didn’t manage to squeeze everyone into the pic but thank you to all who braved the cold to come party with us. From mind-bending dance moves to Luke’s festive set, a Gig Buddies bash never disappoints. We 🖤 our Gig Buddies!

It's #InternationalVolunteersDay & we’re reflecting on the incredible value of volunteers in our community. They are the heart of everything we do. To all our volunteers: thank you for your time, energy, and passion. You are living proof of how small actions can create profound change ✨

A fantastic resource for anyone within care.

We are so excited to announce Gig Buddies has started in Berlin!! 🇩🇪 Katie went over for the launch, which had everything you need for a party – a gig by Die Befreiten, food and a set by JOPPE to finish the night off! The very best of luck, we can’t wait to see what your buddies get up to!

Gig Buddies Fin and Phoebe had a great time at Victorious Festival! 🎶 Check out their spoils – a gyros for Fin and a leopard print hat for Phoebe – all the essentials! And the perfect recipe for a fantastic first festival together! 🥙 🐆

Brighton & Hove Speak Out want to get the DWP to make their letters easier to understand & less scary. They want your stories so they can tell them what does and doesn't work! www.youtube.com/watch?v=nufO... Contact them if you would like to share on 01273421921 or [email protected]