About me and my journey to drive social change

My name is Paul Richards and I’m the executive director of the charity Stay Up Late. This blog is a bit about my journey from working in social care to creating the charity Stay Up Late and the Gig Buddies volunteering movement. All part of my desire to bring punk ethics to creating lasting social change.

Here’s a bit more about me

Working in social care

I’ve spent 30 years working in social care, primarily as a support worker and registered manager for people with learning disabilities. I also used my background in making music to create person-centred music workshops that emphasise creativity and self-expression.

Heavy Load

While working at Southdown Housing, I met Jim, Michael, Simon, and Mick, the other members of the punk band Heavy Load. Over the next 15 years, we embarked on a wild journey that included making a documentary, touring the UK and Europe, playing in New York, and even writing a theme tune for Channel 4.

Our documentary was recognized as No. 9 in The Guardian’s Top 20 Music Documentaries of All Time.

Monsters of doc: Mark Kermode’s top 20 music documentaries

Participation and co-production

Later, I transitioned to working as an ‘Involvement Manager,’ a title that changed often, but the essence remained the same: I was embracing co-production before I even knew the term for it. This eventually led me to my role as the National Co-Production Advisor for Think Local Act Personal.

(Co-production is a collaborative approach where people with lived experience and professionals work together as equal partners to design, deliver, and evaluate services and projects. It ensures that the people who are affected by services have a meaningful say in how they are run, creating more responsive and effective outcomes.)

Starting Stay Up Late to drive social change

Driven by a desire to address the injustices I witnessed in the care system, especially seeing people with learning disabilities denied the simple joy of a late night out to see their friends or catch a live band, I founded Stay Up Late with the rest of Heavy Load.

Stay Up Late was born out of the frustrations we saw as a band, and it grew into a movement aimed at challenging the rigid systems that stifle choice and freedom in social care.

Starting Gig Buddies; a volunteering movement for social change

In 2013, I launched the Gig Buddies project in Brighton and Hove, an initiative that connects people with learning disabilities with volunteers who share their passion for live music and social events.

This organically evolved into the Gig Buddies movement, and today, over 20 Gig Buddies projects operate across 8 countries.

Public speaking

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of speaking at conferences worldwide and a TedX talk.

TedX Brighton 2016

Outside work

When I’m not working, you can find me immersed in music or out on a long walk on the South Downs —two passions that have kept me grounded and inspired throughout my life.

“Punk is protest, it’s rebellion against the system that has let so many people down. It’s about confronting injustice and saying, ‘This is not right, and we will not be silent.’”

Penny Rimbaud (Crass)

In my work I’ve embraced the spirit of punk to not just shout about injustices but to try and do something about them. Through Punks In The Community I’ll aim to share some of the things I’ve done and my outlook on bringing about positive change.

My social change blog

I hope you enjoy reading these articles drawing on various different aspects of my work. Read the latest articles here Blog.

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