On the 20th October I will be running my TENTH Half Marathon in Amsterdam! I actively avoided as much physical activity as possible at school (the whole process terrified me and I was terrible at it), so this comes as a shock even to me!!
I would really like to use the opportunity to raise money for Gig Buddies Cardiff. This is a project that initially started in Sussex and a passionate and dedicated person called Kai Jones who works for Learning Disabilities Wales brought Gig Buddies to Cardiff, and has developed it with funding from First Choice Housing Association and Learning Disabilities Wales.
Gig Buddies pairs up people who have a learning disability (and/or autism) with a volunteer who has the same interests and passions. This enables people to be able to access activities that many of us take for granted, and with a person who shares their passion. Gig Buddies specifically focuses on events that happen in the evenings, such as concerts, in order to break the many barriers that stop people with a learning disability going out at night and staying up late.
These barriers include lack of support, or inflexible support that forces people to leave events early. Other obstacles include transport, confidence, safety, and accessibility of venues and events. Most importantly, Gig Buddies are free to choose what their "gig" is and when and where they want to go.
A "gig" could any activity such as a music concert, watching a musical, going to the cinema or bowling. Gig Buddies is a temporarily funded project (until March 2020) and I would very much like to raise this money to help it to continue and for them to be able to facilitate more friendships.
You can find out a lot more by visiting their website at www.gigbuddies.org.uk.
Both myself and the Gig Buddies team would very much appreciate any donations! I would love to reach my target or even smash my target for them if I can! I have been and will continue to train very hard!
Mel X
