Gig Buddies Blog

One Inch Badge support Gig Buddies

Find out how One Inch Badge are supporting Gig Buddies

In the last few years there has been more, very welcome, talk among the music industry about making live music accessible to disabled people. We’ve been really inspired by the way that Gig Buddies has often been received by the local music industry in Sussex. One organisation in particular has really got stuck in with what we do, they are One Inch Badge!

Although we are a small charity, Gig Buddies is not a small project. We currently have around 120 volunteers and participants involved from across Sussex, and these numbers are growing. We encourage our Gig Buddy pairs to go to gigs and events in Brighton and beyond every month. We are lucky to live in an area where there is so much going on; it definitely makes it easier for volunteers and participants to find things they fancy seeing. However, without the support of other promoters, organisations and venues who help our Gig Buddies access these events and support the work of Stay Up Late, this would not be so easy, and Gig Buddies would not be what it is today.

One of these promoters is One Inch Badge. They are a promotions company, record label and venue manager in Brighton. Since 2014, they have worked with Gig Buddies and have provided invaluable support in the form of offering pairs of volunteers and participants free guest-list tickets to some of the events that they promote.

Although many venues do offer free carers tickets, which our Gig Buddy volunteers often make use of, One Inch Badge go beyond that. They offer free tickets to not just the volunteer, but the participant too. Many people with a learning disability have a low income, and being able see the bands that they love, without having to worry about the cost of going to the event, is very important for them. It gives them the chance to do something they otherwise may not be able to afford to do, and have an amazing time doing it. Even more importantly, both Buddies being put on the guest-list together, receiving the same treatment and enjoying the same benefits, reflects the kind of equal relationships that we are working to promote.

Thanks to One Inch Badge, in the past our Gig Buddies have been to events including Of Montreal, Funeral For A Friend, The Pharcyde and Marmozets. There are more exciting things coming up as well, including two of our Gig Buddies going to see Nathalie Prass at the Haunt in September. And they continue to work with us in other ways too; when we put on our own gig featuring Alice Russell, the Nextmen and Beat Express at Concorde 2 in February this year to fundraise for the Stay Up Late, they gave us the advice and support we needed to make the event a huge success.

The opportunities that One Inch Badge give our Gig Buddies makes a huge difference to their social lives. For many of our participants, it is a chance for them to go out and enjoy mainstream nightlife in a mainstream venue, as everyone should be able to do.

Check out more about One Inch Badge here.