Social NIGHT event for people with disabilities and mental health conditions — Scope | Disability forum
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Social NIGHT event for people with disabilities and mental health conditions

Imagineer
Imagineer Community member Posts: 6 Listener
edited February 2017 in Research and opportunities

Beat It Night is a monthly social event for people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health conditions to get together and just have some fun. We wanted to run a night where anyone would feel welcome. Where people could sit and chat or get up and have a boogie. Or people could listen to live music. Where artists would have an opportunity to showcase their talents, musicians, dancers and poets. A place where people could meet old friends and make new ones. A night that felt like a celebration.

Beat It Night started in 2013 and slowly expanded to four venues across West Yorkshire at Leeds, Bradford and Halifax and Huddersfield. 

You can find the Imagineer website here.

Halifax Beat It Night

Comments

  • htlcy
    htlcy Community member Posts: 128 Pioneering
    Thanks for sharing, sounds like a fantastic opportunity!
    Heather
  • Fundamentalist
    Fundamentalist Community member Posts: 133 Courageous
    Hi from Fm. I don't want to sound derogatory but I fell that I absolutely must comment on this event and point out that anyone who is severely disabled like me couldn't possibly attend such an event because of all the absolutely excruciating noise and generally rowdy behaviour at such an event. This is why I joined this site to try and highlight this kind of subject which needs dealing with and properly recognising. This is the kind of thing which I often see shown on TV, especially regional news and it really annoys me because they keep showing people who are supposed to be so disabled but they can still go to such a raucous and rowdy event and there is never any mention whatsoever of anyone severely disabled like me anywhere despite me writing to regional TV and the national major broadcasters at least what must be a hundred times. It's just like the new trains being designed to replace the existing ones on Merseyside which are nearly 40 years old but it looks like they're once again going to be all open all the way through yet they still insist that they're "disabled friendly" etc. So I've written to merseyrail about my experiences on their trains and pointed out to them that they need segregated quiet areas for autistic folk and others like me. So I'm afraid I will not be attending your event or any others like it. It's always night time and always too far away as well as far too rowdy for me. Fm.
  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    I understand that these sort of events arent for you @Fundamentalist but lots of other people do enjoy evenings out and music.

    I understand that your disability means that evening events with music and noise are not accessible for you, but we like to showcase things for all different people.

    What sort of social event would you like? 
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    For anyone else who would enjoy this sort of event, but this isnt in your area, lots of groups around the UK run similar events so it is worth having a google for what is on around you.
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • Imagineer
    Imagineer Community member Posts: 6 Listener
    Good Morning,

    Thank you for your feedback we appreciate all feedback as we strive to make our Beat It events even better. The Beat It Nights have a party atmosphere to them which is usually fun and energetic. We have never had any constructive feedback about the level of music, we understand individuals have their personal preferences in regards to what they think is acceptable however, as every one is welcome we have severely disabled people who attend our events on a regular basis as well as people with more acute disabilities and mental health conditions. We do not play our music too loud as we do not want to distress any of our guests. We make it clear that the events are held on a night and that we have live music and open mic nights so it is completely up to the individual whether they would like to attend such an environment. I am sorry to learn that the events we run are too far for you to attend, we are doing our best to be able to reach out to every one, as we are a charitable organisation this is a working progress for us. Again thank you for your feedback and we will take your comments on board.

    Kindest Regards

    Imagineer
  • Fundamentalist
    Fundamentalist Community member Posts: 133 Courageous
    Hi from Fm. Thanks for your reply. I hope what I've said will be seen as constructive criticism. But I can never understand how people who are supposed to be so severely disabled, even folk who are autistic can attend such events and work in somewhere like a restaurant for instance, I don't go to such places even to get a take away as it's so dreadful. Even one site that's for people with misophonia hold gatherings, I can never understand how such people can go to such an event if they're supposed to be so suffering with such appalling noise sensitivity. I don't go to any organised events anymore because of all the excruciating noise and dreadfully arrogant behaviour of some folk. But can you believe that back in the 80's I used to help set up and run live music events, I used to work the sound mixing desk and sometimes do emergency repairs on site when something broke down before the gig and I used to enjoy the gig when it got going but then in about march 1993 it was all brutally destroyed when conditions got worse. And I got to see some great bands like Big Country and U2 and the Pretenders and New Order etc. as well as lesser known local bands who I used to be friendly with and repair stuff for and then they moved on to new locations elsewhere and just as well they did as I couldn't possibly carry on working with them anymore. I even knew one band leader whose mum was a celebrity and I used to hang out with her and we sometimes used the same facilities as the some of the big names used. Fm.
  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    I suppose it is just different aspects of impairment @Fundamentalist - there are things that are unbearable to you that do not affect me at all, and there will be things that I can not cope with that you find absolutely fine.

    I find it really interesting that you were involved in live music! My husband was a live sound engineer for years.  How did you feel when your disability meant you couldn't be involved in music any more? That must have been really tough.
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • Fundamentalist
    Fundamentalist Community member Posts: 133 Courageous
    Hi again from Fm. I also used to strip down and service, repair and customise mixing desks as well as multi-track tape decks and keyboards as well as dirty great big 1000 watt amplifiers for the stage. One such big amp had a big fry up the night before a gig and I managed to fix it the next day just in time and I once repaired a digital reverb unit on site just before a gig. And I used to make the odd custom accessory now and again to order. And a friend of mine works in the tachograph industry and I've built some specialised one off purpose made test gear for him and his employers too, but I've had enough of electronics now, I started losing interest about 20 years ago. I'm currently having to build a dirty great big 100 watt white noise machine to drown out the dogs in the yard three doors down so I can work on my home without outrageous disturbance from the menacing creatures who think they can treat me like some kind of criminal on my own property as if it was a sin for me to be there! Fm.
  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    Is that legal? Did you manage to try some noise cancelling headphones @Fundamentalist I read up on them and lots of people with misophonia find them useful.

    "A great misophonia management tool is the Bose noise cancelling headphones(QC20/20i and QC25). ... These headphones will virtually eliminate sound triggers when used in noise cancelling mode, and while playing a noise app." via The Misophonia Institute. 
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • Fundamentalist
    Fundamentalist Community member Posts: 133 Courageous
    Hi from Fm. Is what legal? If one geezer can have great big dogs with a dirty great gargantuan mouth on them then I can certainly have a big white noise machine in my backyard, definitely, I'm not having any of that "we can, you can't" nonsense, no way! I've been forced to accept that all my life but not any more and I've already told several coppers that. I will of course only use my machine when necessary and then only between 9am and 6pm and it will only be turned up as much as need be and there should be a good reserve of power if I need it, if not I'll uprate it, that's easily possible with the design I've used. And I can't really safely use earphones or headphones when I'm up a ladder or on my roof. And besides bose stuff is usually ridiculously expensive, about £250 for just "ordinary" headphones! So what would more specialised ones cost? Anyway I've tried using earphones before back in the 90's and they were little more than useless, absolutely hopelessly inadequate. And thanks for trying to bring misophonia into the open a bit more. And I've just got a letter back from the government saying that they won't recognise it as a disability which is absolutely outrageous when in my case at least it causes far more disruption to my life than a whole range of other disabilities that don't cause anything like as much disruption to other folks lives, that I know. Fm.
  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @fundamentalist It was just a question, I have no idea whether your machine would be legal or not and would hate for you to get in trouble with the police.

    You are right that the headphones are expensive, they are between £250-£290.  That is an awful lot of money but perhaps there are grants or support you could apply for? Or is it something you can save for? Or perhaps family could help out?

    Noise cancelling headphones have moved on so much since the 90s.  Active Noise-cancelling headphones feature a miniature microphone in the earpiece that picks up ambient noise. Noise-canceling circuitry – Electronics in the ear piece create a noise-cancelling wave that is 180° out of phase with the ambient noise.

    You often seem very distressed about noise, would it not be worth a try if it could help you?
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • Chris_Alumni
    Chris_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 689 Pioneering
    edited February 2017
    It's often possible to get good quality noise cancelling headphones much cheaper at a knock-down price, particularly if they're an old model. Amazon currently have these ones at £30 (were 140), and a range of others here.
  • Fundamentalist
    Fundamentalist Community member Posts: 133 Courageous
    Hi from Fm. Yes I know how "noise cancelling" works, the same method was used on 1980's "ghetto blasters" to create the so-called "stereo wide" effect. I've still got two of them here with that system. And the same method is also used for cancelling out interference on low level signal cables like with microphones in professional audio, the same system is also sometimes used for cancelling interference on the speed sensor feed to a tachograph on a commercial vehicle. And it is perfectly legal in England at least to use a big white ( actually it's "pink" noise ) noise machine in your own yard. The police in England don't have any jurisdiction over noise, that's a civil matter and if anyone does complain I'll tell them straight, don't complain to me, go and tell the one who's causing the problem with their stupid insane psychopathic maniac dogs three doors down. And pink noise doesn't sound anything like music, there's no beat or pounding bass etc. it sounds more like a waterfall. Fm. 

Brightness

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