Gig Buddies Blog

Celebrating 5 years of Volunteering!

It’s national volunteers week, and 5 years ago this week I started working for gig buddies having previously been a volunteer buddy myself. My very first match meeting was between Rachel and Jackie, and remarkably they are still buddying now! I caught up with Rachel to celebrate this special anniversary.
‘I couldn’t believe it when Kate at Stay Up Late told me that I had been gig buddy to Jackie for 5 years!’ said Rachel.  ‘It seems like yesterday that I did my training and first met her. It has been fun attending different bands every month with her, from legends like Ian McClagan at The Prince Albert, to the Nashville artist, Drake White, at The Haunt.’
‘We have had some fun over the years, our next gigs are to see Dean Owens, a Scottish singer songwriter, at The Greys and a pre-Edinburgh comedy night at Caroline of Brunswick.’
We at gig buddies are so happy when matched pairs become friends and wanted to thank Rachel for her dedication to the project.
‘How lovely it was to receive ‘Pay-it-Forward’ tickets for a show at the Brighton Festival’ Rachel told me.  ‘None of us look for a reward for being a gig buddy, but receiving these tickets felt like it. I chose to go and watch ‘Backbone’ at The Brighton Dome, which was an interesting mix of circus acrobatics and modern dance, performed by ‘Gravity and Other Myths’, an Australian troupe.
Here’s to our next 5 years’ anniversary, can’t imagine life without Jackie now…’
Apply to be a gig buddy volunteer here https://www.gigbuddies.org.uk/volunteering-gig-buddies/