It’s an honour to welcome Gemma, our newly appointed Northern Beaches hub coordinator.
As the first point of contact for buddies based within the region, Gemma will help to increase awareness of who we are and what we do.
Upon starting at Gig Buddies, Gemma had this to say:
“I couldn’t be more excited to be joining the Gig Buddies team as the Northern Beaches hub coordinator and will be taking the reins from Matt who has been doing such a great job of managing the project in the area. I can’t wait to meet you all in the coming weeks and months.
I grew up in England, but the Northern Beaches has been my home since I moved to Australia 12 years ago with my then fiancé. Since then we have got married, added three kids to the family and have firmly planted our roots here!
I love being social, meeting people, making connections and having fun. Whether that is through music, sport, food, drinks, dancing or simply mucking in over the BBQ at the kids sports events.
But, what really drew me to Gigi Buddies is that as the parent of a neurodivergent child, I am fiercely passionate about advocating for and improving accessibility, inclusion and social participation for everyone! As such, I cannot wait to work alongside you all to grow the Northern Beaches Gig Buddies Hub.
I am looking forward to getting to know you all and learning about your interests so that I can help put on some fantastic socials for us all to enjoy.
Thank you for welcoming me into the Gig Buddies family – I’m so happy to be a part of it! I can’t wait to meet you soon.”
Welcome, welcome
For those wanting to say hello to Gemma, we’ve organised a meet and greet via Zoom.
Taking place this Thursday (4/7) at 8pm, we welcome all buddies to attend.
Whether you’re based on the Northern Beaches, the Central Coast or another part of Sydney, we invite our community to say hello and find out more about Gemma.
To register, load up the following link:
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
All go in August
We recently revealed our social intentions for the month of August.
A Sunday roast, dinner outings, movie catch ups, axe throwing, an over 40s gathering and three festivals: we’ve plenty going on during the month.
We’re facilitating NINE Gig Buddies’ socials, connecting with buddies in Paddington, Mortdale, Roseville, Marrickville, Erina, North Sydney, Five Dock, Penrith and Auburn.
To join us for any of our August outings, load up the links below.
Join us in July
And tickets to this month’s outings are selling fast.
As a reminder, we’re inviting buddies to join us in Parramatta, Gladesville, Miranda, Gosford, Surry Hills, Emu Plains and Duffys Forest as we serve up food outings, live music, movies, seasonal celebrations, NRL and tree planting.
Please note, our catch up in the CBD (karaoke) has now sold out.
To join us for any of our remaining July offerings, load up the links below:
And if you have questions about any of 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.
Head East
And we facilitated our last social for June on Sunday (30/6), catching up with buddies in Bondi.
We headed to Easts, taking in some live music and a bite to eat. It was great to see so many of you.
To see more snaps from all our June outings, click here.
Each and every month we invite buddies to connect with us for our online chats.
Our chats take place via Zoom. To attend get in touch via text: 0422 061 990 or Facebook Messenger.
One up
We’ve got news of one new match to share.
Welcome aboard, Conor and Lewis (above, L - R). We look forward to hearing more about your live music experiences.
Buddy benefits
To say ‘thank you’ to everyone who participates with the project, we’ve created a benefit page - promoting generous offers exclusively available to the Gig Buddies’ community.
“Buddy benefits” are special deals donated to the Gig Buddies project. They’re for all active participants and volunteers.
Thanks to the ongoing generosity of our supporters, we have a number of offers currently up for grabs. Click here to check out our new page.
This is our way of giving back to our community. Be sure to keep an eye on our buddy benefits page for more exclusive offers.
And if you’re a business owner, event organiser or festival facilitator and would like to promote your services or any special offers, feel free to use the same form to get in contact.
Are you in the market for Gig Buddies’ merchandise?
Click on the image above to get your fill on Gig Buddies goodies. If we haven’t got the size you’re after, get in touch via text Facebook Messenger.
Join the team
Our user-led team, Soul Fly Buddies, are on the lookout for THREE new members.
For those not in the know, Soul Fly Buddies, formerly known as Soul Fly Band, is the project’s advisory group. Made up of participants from Sydney and the Central Coast, they meet monthly, advising and overseeing the ongoing work of Gig Buddies.
In line with our desire to ensure a fair representation from the areas we cover, we’re looking for the following:
1x member from the Western Sydney area. This means buddies based in any of the following council areas can apply: Blacktown, Parramatta, Fairfield, Cumberland, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool, Castle Hill (and the Hills Shire area).
1x member from the Southern Sydney area. This means buddies based in any of the following council areas can apply: Sutherland Shire, St George, Georges River, Liverpool or Bayside.
1x member from the Northern Beaches area. This means buddies based in any of the following council areas can apply: Northern Beaches Council.
For those of you wanting to know more about Soul Fly Buddies, check out this brief video containing past and present members.
And if you want to know why you should join our current members (Stavros, Lachy, Jack, Alex, Nalyn, Bevan, Karen and Audrey) for our monthly meetups, the following video may provide you with some answers.
Our user led-team have been around since 2016. They meet on the last Friday of each month for around 1 hour, usually via Zoom. They have an in-person meeting twice a year.
If you would like to join the Soul Fly Buddies, register your interest by clicking here. Alternatively, if you would like more information, feel free to get in touch. We can be reached via Facebook Messenger, email: info@gigbuddiesydney.org or text: 0412 145 819.
Thank you
And on the subject of our Soul Fly Buddies, they caught up for their midyear in-person team meeting last Friday (28/6).
They connected over lunch, meeting up at Hawkesbury River.
We want to say thank you to Soul Fly Buddies for their ongoing efforts in advising and overseeing our work. It was great to connect with everyone on Friday.
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.
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