Three hands of festival-goers wearing BuDS wristbands and stickers

About BuDS

Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) is a user-led disability charity operating in Buckinghamshire and across England. We are a successful, dynamic and influential charity, focused on supporting disabled people by fixing the biggest issues facing them. We aim to build a world which is Fair4All, including disabled people. 

BuDS works by permanently removing barriers facing disabled people and finding answers to the big issues facing them, alongside helping individuals. Our projects and partnerships deliver unique and lasting change and effective support that helps tens of thousands of disabled people in Bucks and across England.

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The BuDS stand at the Towersey Festival 2023. The blue and gold BuDS flags and banners are seen in the middle of a busy festival scene with blurred images of people in the foreground and background.

BuDS Annual Meeting 2023

Your chance to learn more about us and get involved!

The BuDS Annual Meeting for 2023 will be held online at 3 pm on Saturday 13 January 2024. This isn’t a stuffy meeting but a celebration of all we have done in this extraordinary year. There’s plenty of opportunity to ask questions and get involved in our work. This year, we are also making some big changes to evolve BuDS so that we can help more people.

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Evolving the BuDS Constitution

BuDS continues to grow and develop, and our constitution needs to grow and develop too, so that
the charity has a legal form which is suitable for the future. We’d like your views about a
number of changes to BuDS’ constitution, our governing document.

If you have any questions or comments about the proposed changes, please do get in touch
with BuDS. You can e-mail info@buds.org.uk, leave us a voicemail on 01494 211179 or message us
through a social media platform. You can also send us a message through this website by clicking the ‘Contact Us’ button at the bottom of this page.

Here is a summary of the changes that BuDS Trustees would like to make to the Constitution. Members of BuDS (any disabled person from Bucks) have to approve the changes at the AGM on 13th January 2024, and some of the changes will also need to be approved by the Charity Commission.

  • Make BuDS’ legal ‘area of operation’ England rather than just Bucks. BuDS would continue to work principally in and around Bucks just as it does now, with some projects operating across the South East or Thames Valley, or nationally, when it’s right and possible.
  • Allow disabled people to join BuDS as members from anywhere in England. BuDS would continue to work as it does now, mainly in and around Bucks, but with the difference that any disabled person from anywhere in England who wants to join us would be able to do so.
  • Allowing BuDS Trustees to be disabled people from anywhere in England. BuDS would continue to recruit only the best qualified and most passionate disabled people to become Trustees, but from anywhere in England rather than just in Bucks.
  • Permit a small number of BuDS Trustees to be non-disabled people. BuDS has always recruited a few non-disabled people as Trustees if their skills and experience were vital for the charity and this change would allow this to continue, provided 75% of Trustees are always disabled people.
  • Allow Trustees to change the name of BuDS from ‘Buckinghamshire Disability Service BuDS’ to ‘BuDS Disability Service’. This gradual change over time would stop people being confused whether BuDS could help them or not.
  • Note that Trustees intend in due course to change the legal form of BuDS from an unincorporated association to a company limited by guarantee. This is a technical legal change which is recommended for all larger charities, and which would not affect what BuDS does and how it helps disabled people.

You can find out more about these proposals, and why Trustees think they are necessary, in the full consultation paper. This can be downloaded by clicking the download button below.

You can find the Constitution by clicking the download button below.

If you need the consultation paper or the Constitution in another format, please contact us:

A group of people in blue BuDS polo shirts standing in a field in front of a blue gazebo with a yellow banner reading "Buckinghamshire Disability Service". A historic building is visible in the background.

BuDS Strategy & Plan – 2023/24

In April 2023, BuDS Trustees agreed that the charity’s main strategic objective for the year ahead would be to complete the transition from Covid-19 contingency funds to conventional charitable funding, and so enable all of our current projects to continue and expand. By July 2023, it was clear that we were succeeding in re-funding our current projects, and that we needed to change our strategy to reflect our quick growth. BuDS Trustees have therefore agreed an updated strategy for the remainder of the current financial year. This can be downloaded below.

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The word 'policy' in blue written by a hand shown below the word

BuDS’ Policies

On this page, you can find all of BuDS’ key policies. These are constantly reviewed and updated, so you may find different documents available compared to the last time you visited this page. Documents are available as PDF downloads. If you would like the documents in any other format, or have any questions about the policies, please email us.

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BuDS And VAT

Buckinghamshire Disability Service (BuDS) is a registered charity (1102511). The charity is not VAT-registered, and does not issue VAT invoices.

The charity is in the process of registering for VAT for financial year 2023/24.

BuDS AGM 2022

Your chance to learn more about us and get involved!

The BuDS Annual Meeting for 2022 will be held online at 3 pm on Saturday 19 November. This isn’t a stuffy meeting but a celebration of all we have done in this extraordinary year. There’s plenty of opportunity to ask questions and get involved in our work.

How to Attend

The meeting will be held using Microsoft Teams. If you’re not familiar with this system, just drop us an e-mail at info@buds.org.uk or call 01494 211179 and we’ll talk you through it.

If you need any help to attend the AGM because of a disability or medical condition, we’ll be happy to provide it for you. Just drop us an e-mail at info@buds.org.uk or call 01494 211179 and we’ll sort everything out so you can enjoy the AGM like everyone else. Please try to give us a few days notice, though.

To attend the AGM, use the link here. We look forward to seeing you there!