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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Could you help disabled people live more independently? Have you experience of making evidence-based decisions, e.g. as a case worker or regulator? BuDS is recruiting Fair4All Card Decision Makers.
Fair4All Card Decision Makers are volunteers who help BuDS to decide whether someone is entitled to a Fair4All Card. The Fair4All Card is a secure photocard issued only to disabled people which confirms that the holder is a disabled person in law, and lists “reasonable adjustments” that they are entitled to in their everyday lives. Card holders show the Card to retailers, service providers, and others they meet when they need to. The Card is an important aid for disabled people to live independently as it helps them get the support they are legally entitled to receive.
BuDS is recruiting one or more Fair4All Accessibility & Inclusion Surveyors. A Fair4All Access & Inclusion survey is a comprehensive, holistic, assessment of how accessible and inclusive a business, site or service is for all disabled people. It includes but goes beyond those aspects of accessibility normally covered in a BS or DDA compliance access audit. To find out more about the surveys, click here.
We are open to Surveyors working as volunteers, as a self employed contractor, or on a zero-hours hourly contract depending on level of experience and your personal circumstances. This will be ad-hoc work as and when we receive interest from an organisation for a Fair4All Access & Inclusion survey.
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Would you like to help fix the issues with SEND Education in Bucks? We are looking for volunteers to join our SEND Education Transitions project. The project will be carrying out a headline SEND transitions service audit, identifying gaps and deficiencies in service, and then working with partners to develop new services, fixes, and solutions.
As a volunteer with the SEND Transition Service, you will have the opportunity to support its work in ways that match your experience, skills, and availability. Some of the specific opportunities are listed below. BuDS prides itself on finding a role for anyone – if you are interested in SEND education, there is bound to be something you can do to help.
Read MoreDisabled people are sometimes subject to abuse, insults or physical violence because of their disability. BuDS’ Fair4All Attitudes & Hate Crimes project confidentially supports victims of disability hate incidents, helps them to report incidents to the police if they wish to do, and works to educate and campaign about disability hate crime.
The Fair4All Attitudes & Hate Crimes project is intended to be led and staffed by BuDS volunteers with the support of a part-time paid Disability Hate Crime Officer. A team of volunteers will support victims of hate incidents and crime with emotional support, practical information and, if the victim wants, reporting incidents to the police and going to court. This voluntary role is about managing this team of volunteers (as well as supporting victims if necessary).
This role would ideally suit someone with experience of supporting victims or people who have experienced tough times and/or managing teams of people.
To apply or express an interest, please email volunteering@buds.org.uk. To arrange an informal chat about the role, please e-mail simonec@buds.org.uk.
Disabled people are sometimes subject to abuse, insults, or physical violence because of their disability. BuDS’ Fair4All Attitudes & Hate Crimes project confidentially supports victims of disability hate incidents, helps them to report incidents to the police if they wish to do, and works to educate and campaign about disability hate crime.
The Fair4All Attitudes & Hate Crimes project is intended to be led and staffed by BuDS volunteers with the support of a part-time paid Disability Hate Crime Officer. A team of volunteers will support victims of hate incidents and crime with emotional support, practical information and, if the victim wants, reporting incidents to the police and going to court.
This role would ideally suit someone with experience of supporting victims or people who have experienced tough times. Disabled people are particularly welcome to apply.
To apply or express an interest, please email volunteering@buds.org.uk. To arrange an informal chat about the role, please e-mail simonec@buds.org.uk.
Disabled people are sometimes subject to abuse, insults, or physical violence because of their disability. BuDS’ Fair4All Attitudes & Hate Crimes project confidentially supports victims of disability hate incidents, helps them to report incidents to the police if they wish to do, and works to educate and campaign about disability hate crime.
The Fair4All Attitudes & Hate Crimes project is intended to be led and staffed by BuDS volunteers with the support of a part-time paid Disability Hate Crime Officer. A team of volunteers will produce educational and awareness material, carry out campaigns and projects, give presentations and change minds about disability.
This role would ideally suit someone with experience of educational or awareness-raising campaigns, but this isn’t essential. Disabled people are particularly welcome to apply.
To apply or express an interest, please email volunteering@buds.org.uk. To arrange an informal chat about the role, please e-mail simonec@buds.org.uk.
Disabled people are sometimes subject to abuse, insults or physical violence because of their disability. BuDS’ Fair4All Attitudes & Hate Crimes project confidentially supports victims of disability hate incidents, helps them to report incidents to the police if they wish to do, and works to educate and campaign about disability hate crime.
This voluntary role provides the essential link between the BuDS Attitudes & Hate Crime Project and criminal justice agencies, mainly Thames Valley Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. It will help make sure victims are supported properly and have the right support as they engage with the police and courts.
This role would ideally suit someone with experience of working in the police or a criminal justice agency or who has experience of supporting victims in the criminal justice field. However, this is not essential. Disabled people are particularly welcome to apply.
To apply or express an interest, please email volunteering@buds.org.uk. To arrange an informal chat about the role, please e-mail simonec@buds.org.uk.
