Following last week’s festive party plans’ announcement, we bring you news of our final six socials for 2023.
In the month of December we invite buddies to join us in Miranda, Gosford, Waverton, Macarthur, Petersham and Double Bay for bingo, dinner, breakfast and boardgames, live football, markets, an inclusion festival, and pub trivia.
To find out more about our December socials (and to sign up), jump on the links below.
Deck the halls
The gigs listed above are in addition to our two festive offerings.
We’ve had a great response to last week’s reveal. As a reminder, on Wednesday 29 November we’ll be taking over Marrickville’s Factory Theatre for our Sydney festive party.
And later that week - on Saturday 2 December - we head to the Central Coast, stopping off at Umina Beach’s Margarita Daze.
Whether you’re based in Sydney or on the Central Coast, we invite you to join us for our two festive gatherings. To sign up for both, load up the links below:
Remember, all participants and volunteers are welcome at our social gatherings - even if your buddy cannot attend.
Are you looking to volunteer?
We need volunteers! Click on the image above for current Sydney roles and the graphic below for opportunities on the Central Coast.
If you have any questions or would like more information, contact us via Facebook or email: info@gigbuddiessydney.org
Four more
But before we arrive in the final month of 2023, we have four remaining November group outings to offer.
Next month we invite buddies to join us in Ultimo, Windsor, Milperra and Miranda as we bring you interactive artworks, markets, food and drink outings, and a trip to the arcades.
To sign up for any of our November nights (and days) out, load up the following links:
Please note, our live music gathering at Waitara’s Magpies has now sold out.
If you have any questions about our forthcoming events, get in touch: we can be reached via Facebook Messenger, email: info@gigbuddiessydney.org or via text or phone call on 0411 252 228.
Out and about
As for our facilitated socials, we caught up with buddies only yesterday.
Thanks to everyone who joined us at Ryde Markets.
The weather was superb for our stroll through the stalls. To see more snaps - including those from our recent trip to the koala park in West Pennant Hills, click here.
Toot toot
And talking of round ups, on Saturday 14 October we attended our first ever international music festival.
Hats off to Tessa, Ella, John, Will, Houssam and our very own Sandon for making their way to Wollongong for the Yours and Owls Festival.
This is something that has been in the offering since we started in 2015. Now we’ve been to one, we want to go back for more!
Below is Sandon’s take on the day:
“On the Saturday morning everyone was able to get to Sutherland on time. We gathered at the station and introduced ourselves to each other then at 10:23am hopped on the train to Waterfall. From there we got a bus that had two other people on it so that was nice; we just chatted and hung out on the way down. We also sorted out comms for the day, creating a Messenger group chat.
Getting into the festival was easy and smooth, with no issues. Once inside we set a meeting point, then we all sort of did our own thing for the next couple of hours
I said to everyone that if they wished to stick with me they were more than welcome, but I was just going to cruise around. We continued this movement throughout the day, meeting up/communicating every couple of hours as a group, checking in regularly, but giving the buddies the freedom to do what they wished.
At about 6pm, Tessa let us know that her and Ella had a table at a good spot near the main stage, so we all headed over there to sit and hang out together as the afternoon wore on into evening.
From there, we decided we all wanted to go into the mosh to watch Hilltop Hoods together, as they were everyone's favourite and the last act that we would be seeing before we had to leave for the train. So using that table as a base we all went off to grab food, taking turns so that we could keep the table.
We managed to get a great spot three rows from the very front for HTP, which was awesome. Watching them was an awesome experience to share together. The crowd was going nuts, they were super polished and great performers. It was so fun for me seeing how much fun the buddies were having and that was a cool reflection moment for me watching them get into it.
At the end of HTP, this is where first negative experience of the day occurred. Because of the number of people watching HTP, the fact that everyone wanted to leave the stage after they were done and the layout of the festival, a massive bottleneck was created, where everyone was super condensed, it was very hard to move and we were all pushed up against the people next to us. As a result, it took us 20 minutes to cover about 100m of ground, but we made it out in the end thankfully.
On the shuttle bus to the station is where the second negative experience occurred; a guy on the bus had consumed way too many beers and was just being SUPER obnoxious, to the point where his mates were even telling him to shut up. This did lead to super funny moment though, where John pulled out his ear muffs and all his mates were like "oh hey have you got any extra pairs of them for us?"
All in all, it was an epic and exhausting day that I think the buddies thoroughly enjoyed. I had a great time and it was so awesome getting to know that crew on a deeper level.”
- Sandon, Gig Buddies southern Sydney coordinator
Each and every week we invite buddies to connect with us for our weekly chat.
Our chats take place via Zoom. To attend get in touch via text: 0422 061 990 or Facebook Messenger.
Scaling back
As revealed last week, we’ve made the decision to cut back on our weekly chats.
From November onwards, we’ll be hosting monthly chats instead.
Reminders will still be posted to the ‘what’s on’ section of our website, on our Gig Buddies private Facebook page, and via this very newsletter.
The first of our monthly chats will take place on Thursday 2 November, starting at 4pm.
Two up
Our latest matches are paired up and ready to go.
Say hello to Colin and Daniel (left, L - R) and Liam and Hugo (right, L - R). It’s great to have you all on board.
Lights, camera, action!
And finally, we have an update on the Tubular Festival, taking part on the Central Coast - for which we will make an appearance.
The team behind the event have now revealed the full line up for their FREE concert, taking place on Saturday 25 November at Gosford Waterfront.
Music heavyweights The Jezabels, Furnace And The Fundamentals, KEIYNAN, Molly Millington, DZ Deathrays, Muzzle, Soda Simulator & Volume Knob (plus more) are set to rock two stages.
To find out more about the event, click here.
As for our involvement, on Monday 20 November we’ll be hosting a presentation, informing attendees all about who we are and what we do.
Entitled ‘fight for the right to party’, we’ll talking about how we tackle social isolation for adults with mild to moderate learning disabilities and/or autism.
Taking place in Gosford, we take to the stage at 6.30pm. To find out more about our appearance and to see the rest of the program, click here.
Matthew: Central Coast coordinator (0402 708 814)
Carol: CEO (02 9419 6951)
Chelsea: NDIS coordinator (0412 145 819)
Tony: Funding and sponsorship coordinator (02 9419 6951)
Bec: Sydney coordinator (0411 252 228)
Aylin: Western Sydney coordinator (0466 389 961)
Lara: Greater Western Sydney coordinator (0478 045 121)
Sandon: Southern Sydney coordinator (0478 043 996)
Would you like more information about Gig BuddiesSydney? You’re only a click away. Connect with us via the links below.
Fancy revelling in legendary status? If so, please support us in our cause to get more people out to live events in Sydney.
Donations over $2 are tax deductible and all are gratefully received.
The Gig Buddies Sydney project is an initiative of ACL Disability Services.
