Bradford Buddies

Volunteering in your community is your chance to make a difference locally to the lives of people with a learning disability . With Bradford Buddies you can connect with someone who shares similar interests while supporting them to get out and enjoy a full and varied social life.  

Mencap will provide volunteers with: 

• the opportunity to go to great events and meet new people. 
• the opportunity to support someone with a learning disability to live a life like anyone else and make choices about how you spend social time together.  
• expenses reimbursed up to £10 a month. 
• Induction training (see more below)  
• friendly ongoing support, mentoring and guidance from a local coordinator. 

Yes - all Bradford Buddies volunteers go through an induction training programme. 

This generally takes a few hours and covers areas such as: 

• an introduction to learning disability 
• communication 
• safeguarding 
• 'what to do if' scenarios. 

All volunteers must complete an Enhanced DBS check and we also ask for two references. 

We also recommend that new pairs of buddies come to a social for their first gig together, we're on hand to provide any support too. 

If you become a buddy, you will benefit from: 

• being supported to try new things 
• going out in the evening and feeling safe 
• getting to know new people 
• making new friends 

Bradford Buddies is aimed at people with a mild to moderate learning disability, particularly those who get little or no funded support as there is a risk that this group of people will be most at risk from social isolation. 

We typically aim to engage people aged 18-35. This is because we want to reduce loneliness for the next generation of people with a learning disability and support them to have lasting friendships and connections. 

The Bradford Buddies coordinator meets everyone who gets involved in the scheme (buddies and volunteers) and will conduct an initial interview . 

This enables them to make an informed decision about who to match with who. 

The buddy and volunteer will then be introduced to each other at a matching meeting led by the coordinator. 

It's totally fine if a pairing doesn't work out. 

We believe it is important to ensure that the person with a learning disability is in control of who their buddy is. 

If it doesn't work out we'll offer support to see if there's something we can do to resolve the relationship, but on the rare occasions it doesn't work at all, we'll support you to find a new buddy. 

Anything at all! 

We encourage people to say what their interest is. That could be playing or watching sport, walking, or going to the theatre.  

Whatever your interest, we'll aim to find a match! 

The support provided by our Bradford Buddies service is free, funded by Bradford Metropolitan District Council . However, we expect participants to pay for tickets to events and other activities, and travel costs. 

We do reimburse volunteer expenses - up to £10 a month. 

Mencap’s Bradford Buddies service is part of a wider Bradford Buddies scheme funded by the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Age UK deliver a similar service to older residents living in Bradford as part of the scheme.

Find out more information about the Bradford Buddy scheme

Our Bradford Buddies service benefits from training, peer support and resources from the charity, Stay Up Late who created the Gig Buddies project model on which the service is based.  

The Gig Buddies project began from a campaign in 2006 to fight for the rights of people with learning disabilities to “stay up late” and not be restricted by support worker shifts. 

In 2013 Stay Up Late started Gig Buddies as a practical solution to this, matching volunteers and people with learning disabilities who shared interests around music to go to gigs together.  

Stay Up Late now share the Gig Buddies project model with like-minded organisations around the UK and even in Sydney, Australia. 

The project has evolved over the years and now matches people to be "buddied" for a range of activities, not just gigs and music.  

Our Bradford Buddies service looks to support volunteers and their buddies to access whatever activities and events they are interested in at whichever times suit them best.  

Find out more about Stay Up Late, the Gig Buddies projects and other providers.

Mencap currently only has funding to deliver this service in Bradford. 

However, there are other Gig Buddies projects around the UK. Find out more about these other projects.