Gig Buddies Hull and East Riding, a project delivered by mencap, is finding new ways of developing buddies’ love for the arts locally, and developing deeper friendships within their group.
The befriending project for young adults with learning disability launched last summer, and now has an active membership of buddies that enjoy meeting up for trips to music gigs, theatre shows, and more. The project is funded by the Co-op Foundation, and its aim is to reduce youth loneliness and isolation.
The group has had a very busy first few months, enjoying lots of arts excursions together.
Emily Clixby is the organiser of the Hull and East Riding Gig Buddies project.
Emily said: “Hull Truck have been amazing, they’ve been really accommodating, and they offer pay-as-you-like tickets as well. Middle Child were great, we went to their panto, they gave us ten tickets to go to panto at Christmas. We’ve been to Trinity Fest too, and to gigs by local bands.”
She explained how the closure of local venues and theatres came as a blow to the relatively new project, but the group was not deterred.
She said: “Gig Buddies is part of a wider movement of similar projects across the UK, it started with a project in Brighton called Stay Up Late. They’ve set up a ‘coronavirus festival’, and they have live music every night between 8pm and 9pm, so buddies are watching those gigs online.”
Not all buddies have access to the internet, though, and some struggle with the technology. Most of the buddies still live at home with their parents and carers, others live in residential homes, but some live independently. It’s those that live alone that are most at risk of being socially isolated, particularly at the moment.
Emily said: “For those buddies that don’t have the internet we’re writing letters, we’re posting things off to them. I’m writing one at the moment and putting a little puzzle book in, I’m putting a CD in there too.
“We’ve created a Gig Buddies play list as well. People have picked their top five songs, it’s nice knowing that someone else has chosen the music and that everyone is listening to it.
“We’re trying to find different ways to engage people that don’t have the internet as well, really.”
Many of the city’s performing artists are now embracing virtual opportunities to share their creative output. There has been a real, and welcome, explosion of streams appearing across social media each evening this week.
Emily said: “I’m searching, at the moment, for things to share with my Gig Buddies, especially things that are Gig Buddy friendly. We’d really welcome artists getting in touch with us, inviting us to engage.
“Gig Buddies is all about going out and accessing night-life and enjoying culture. Now this has happened, going out is impossible. We’re looking at different ways of continuing, but not doing it all online. I think people forget that not everyone has access to the internet, and some struggle.”
If the city’s artists have ideas of how they can engage with this group, the Gig Buddies would love to hear from you.
Jerome Whittingham