Since 2010, BuDS has helped its volunteers towards work. Our Reach4Work project, created in 2018, codified and developed that help, creating a professional wrap-around service for our disabled volunteers who want to move into or closer to work.
BuDS is exceptionally successful at moving disabled jobseeker volunteers into or closer to work…
Please note that the BuDDies scheme is currently on hold due to ongoing challenges facing charity funding across England. Find out more at the button below.
Are you feeling lonely or stressed at home? Need a friendly chat with someone who understands? The BuDS BuDDies are here to help!
Read More
BuDS publishes some of our articles in EasyRead format. These articles are produced by our volunteers, and so our capacity is limited. Over time we will publish more EasyRead articles. Please be patient with us whilst we grow this project.
Read More
The BuDS Enquiries Team answers questions and queries from disabled people about a very wide range of issues. We try to fill the gaps left by other support services and helplines, so we often support disabled people with complex and difficult issues.
Any disabled person in England can contact the Enquiries project for help. Parents, carers, and supporters can also contact us on behalf of a disabled person. We don’t have strict rules about who we can help: we will always do our best to support you and will let you know immediately if, for any reason, we can’t.
The Enquiries project is staffed entirely by volunteers, many of them disabled people themselves. We are often very busy and there may be a delay in getting back to you. We are sorry about this, but we can only do so much. The Enquiries project is not a crisis or emergency service.
Read More
The BuDS SEND Transitions Service is a three-year project funded by The Rothschild Foundation. The purpose of the SEND Transitions Service is to improve the experience of disabled children and young people moving through key transitions within school education and from school education into work or further/higher education. It will do this by:
The SEND Transitions Service is made up of workstreams from a number of BuDS projects, principally Fair4All Education and Reach4Work.
To learn more about the Reach4Work workstream, which is looking at disabled young people’s transition from education to employment, click here.
Fair4All Visitors is a BuDS project to help visitor attractions to be more accessible and inclusive for disabled people.
The Fair4All Education project tackles the most important educational issues facing disabled children and young people, and their parents/carers, in Bucks.
The core of the Fair4All Education project is a ‘working community’ of professionals, parents, carers and disabled young people who are passionate about making a real difference. Working under the BuDS umbrella, the Fair4All Education team works together to define an agenda for action and plan how change will be made to happen.
Read MoreDisabled people are often excluded from outdoor public events. This is not because they do not want to attend these events, but because the way the event is organized and staged creates barriers that make it difficult or impossible for them to attend. BuDS’ free-to-use Fair4All event project helps event organisers remove those barriers and attract more disabled people to their events, making them more successful. There are over 40,000 disabled people in Buckinghamshire and over 100,000 families with a disabled member, so being more accessible can significantly boost an event’s popularity and attendance.
Event organisers are often not aware that they are creating barriers which are reducing the appeal of their events. Event management training and qualifications do not usually cover disabled accessibility and inclusion. Disabled people are so used to events not being accessible that most do not even try to attend, which means event organisers do not see the difficulties that disabled people face.
Read More
Disabled people are sometimes subject to abuse, insults or physical violence because of their disability. The BuDS Fair4All Attitudes and Hate Crime project supports people affected by disability hate, helps them report it to the police if they wish, and campaigns to change attitudes and combat hostility toward disabled people.
Read MoreThe IAG team works tirelessly to produce easy to read, fact-checked and reliable articles about issues relevant to disabled people. During the Covid-19 pandemic, these have included weekly risk posts which break down the latest case, hospitalisation, death and vaccination statistics; analyses of Government policy, and scientific updates about the coronavirus. To read these posts, please see below or visit our Facebook page using the button below:
If you would like to volunteer for the IAG team as a researcher or writer, please visit our volunteering page to find out more.
The Fair4All Card is a secure, evidence based card that can be used by any disabled person to communicate the reasonable adjustments they need.
We created the scheme in August 2020 and have grown from offering around 12 reasonable adjustments to now offering over 40.
Find out more about the scheme below.
Written by Siobhan Meade
Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.
Today marks International Women’s Day, a day earmarked to celebrate the indomitable spirit of women across the globe, I find myself reflecting on my journey, not just as a woman but as a blind woman navigating a world designed for the sighted. This day serves as a poignant reminder of the collective and individual strength of women, especially those of us within the disability community, striving to make significant contributions in our unique ways.
Read More
Do you want to help support disabled people and get to attend an amazing event? BuDS is looking for event volunteers for the Chiltern Open Air Museum’s Halloween Event, on Friday 27th October 2023.
The Halloween Spectacular Event is back on Friday 27th October this year, it will be an evening filled with spooky fun for all ages in the unique and atmospheric setting of the Museum’s historic buildings and woods. BuDS volunteers will get free admission to the whole site, and plenty of free time to enjoy the event and museum.
BuDS is excited to support this event to be more inclusive and accessible for all disabled people. We will be supporting disabled visitors, staffing viewing areas, and providing an emergency quiet space. There will be a wide range of roles to suit everyone, even if you can only volunteer for an hour.
If you’d like to be part of the volunteer team for this amazing event, please fill in this expression of interest form, and we will be in touch! Disabled people are very welcome to volunteer, and we have a wide range of roles to suit everyone.
If you don’t want to fill in the form, you can email volunteering@buds.org.uk or leave us a voicemail on 01494 211179
Written by Huw Feakes for Volunteers Week
Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.
“My Name is Huw, I first heard about BuDS through my employment coach at Talkback, this is because I am looking to gain some experience to help me get a paid job in the future. After taking a couple of weeks to officially join I started volunteering with the Reach4Work team 2 weeks ago.
Read More
Written by Hope Heeley
Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.
Hello!
My name is Hope, I am the Disability Hate Crime Officer here at BuDS. I began working for BuDS in January 2023. BuDS is my first true experience of the working world and I have never felt more welcome.
“BuDS is an incredibly supportive and hard-working charity.”
BuDS is an incredibly supportive and hard-working charity. Their sole aim is to help disabled people in any way they can, this has been made clear to me in our most recent projects.
Read More
Written by Siobhan Meade
Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal, and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.
24 years ago, I heard five words that will haunt me forever, “you’re never going to see again”.
This is how an Ophthalmologist at a Kent hospital broke the news to a distraught 16 year-old girl, who’s one remaining optic nerve finally gave up the ghost and snapped after I walked into a door at school.
Read More
Written by Ann Hedges
Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.
“I have been a BuDS Trustee since 2018, and it is a role I have found very rewarding. Having left work, I found that I am able to continue using skills which I have acquired over many years in my work with BuDS.
Read MoreBuDS are a pan-disability charity that works to break down the barriers that disabled people face. We believe in the Social Model of Disability and are a user-led charity – which means we want to hear from, and work with, you! In just this last year we have taken on our first paid staff,
ant to get involved and help BuDS’ fantastic work? You can donate or fundraise for us – every penny raised goes to our work and we make every penny work very hard. You can also join our volunteer team and make a difference by working on one of our many projects or events. Or why not partner with BuDS – we have win-win relationships with many businesses and organisations. Or just check out and like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
