We recently heard from a volunteer who told us how things had been going with his new buddy. They’d had a fantastic night out at The Factory Live venue in Worthing. Two great bands, The Faux Fighters (great tribute name!) and the support band Cyanide Sundae. James said his buddy had enjoyed the support band so much he’d danced to their entire set. The band were so blown away that they sought him out after the gig to give him a free CD as a mark of their appreciation for his support!
Apart from the great live music they had enjoyed, the evening was helped by the superb staff at the venue who had made a real effort to make Tom & James comfortable and encouraged them to seek any assistance they might need.
A little while later an application came in from a potential volunteer. When asked what had prompted her to apply she gave the following reply:
‘I work in supported housing and was aware of Gig Buddies as one of our residents had just been matched with one of your volunteers. I helped him get ready to go out and he was understandably a bit anxious about it. They went to a gig in Worthing and I was still on shift when his volunteer dropped him back. He was absolutely buzzing and I’ll never the forget the smile on his face. He was beaming. I found this incredibly moving and thought that, as someone who enjoys going out to gigs and shows myself, I’d love to be able to do that for someone and help put a smile on their face’.
The gig in question was the one I was talking about earlier.
The new volunteer is now trained and DBS checked and about to be matched up with her own buddy!
So, from that one great night our buddies got to rock out to some great music and Gig Buddies got a new volunteer. What a success story!
– Malcolm