Innovative Practice 2018 on Accessibility
Teaming up persons with learning disabilities or autism for leisure activities
Name of Innovative Practice: | Teaming up persons with learning disabilities or autism for leisure activities |
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Organisation: | Stay Up Late |
Country of Implementation | United Kingdom |
PROBLEMS TARGETED
SOLUTION, INNOVATION, AND IMPACT
Stay Up Late matches each participant with a volunteer with the aim to develop an ongoing friendship. The matching process takes into account such factors as cultural tastes, gender, age, geography, and whether the individual can access public transportation. It is essential for the success of the process that these matches are made with careful consideration. Volunteers are asked to commit to two events per month – typically one “gig” and one catch-up over a coffee to plan the next event.
The program has been able to reach out to new kinds of volunteers, notably people who enjoy going to live music and sport events and had not thought of volunteering before. This approach makes the act of volunteering easier, turning something a person enjoys into a volunteering opportunity and sharing it with a socially isolated person.
Since its start in 2013, Stay Up Late has matched 85 pairs of “buddies” and has trained five people with disabilities to co-facilitate the volunteer training days. It has also created a paid employment position for three people with learning disabilities.
OUTLOOK, TRANSFERABILITY AND FUNDING
Stay Up Late started in the south-east city of Brighton and Hove and has now expanded to cover the counties of East Sussex and West Sussex.
Stay Up Late has created a social franchise, which shares all methodology and learning. There are now projects in other parts of the UK and Australia.
The goal is to knit all these partners into a single community, sharing experiences and supporting each other to develop new individual projects in their local area.
There has been great interest in their work, and there is a waiting list of people wanting to access the project. The project is financed through grants and relies on paid staff to co-ordinate and support participants and volunteers. Through social franchising, Stay Up Late is able to recuperate some of its cost.