“We’ve got to fight for our right to stay up late!”

There is a punk band from England called ‘Heavy Load’. Punk is a type of rock music that has electric guitars and drums in it. The band members of ‘Heavy Load’ are people with intellectual disabilities. The band has launched a campaign called ‘Stay Up Late’, which fights for the right of people with disabilities to stay up late when they want to. Currently, many people with disabilities can rarely stay up late or go out, because many are in need of support, and carers usually stop working around 10 pm at the latest. The band started their initiative because when they gave concerts, they noticed that many of their fans had to leave early, and they didn’t like this. They wanted to give people with disabilities the opportunity to have fun until late at night. The campaign has been a success, many people with disabilities, carers and also the British government have given their support. The band is thinking of organizing the campaign around the world, not just in England.

An English punk band called ‘Heavy Load’ has created a campaign to fight for the right of people with disabilities to stay up until late at night, CNN reported. 
The band, consisting of five musicians with intellectual disabilities, wanted to encourage carers to give the people they assist the opportunity to stay out later than the regular 10 pm. The campaign is called ‘Stay Up Late’.

Paul Richards, managar and bass guitarist of the band, said that their initiative is meant to raise awareness and to address the issue of persons with disabilities never being able to go to a concert and stay until the end of the show. This is due to the fact that many require assistance, and that their carers usually finish their shifts at 10 pm.
“We started the campaign because we’d be playing a gig and something strange happens at 9pm when people would start to go home. We were also frustrated with having to ask to go on earlier in the evening so that our fans would still be there. It’s not very punk to go on at 8.30pm,” Richards explained.

The ‘Stay up Late’ campaign proved to be a success as it gathered widespread support from many people with disabilities, as well as the British government. Crucially, many carers have also spoken in favour of the initiative, despite the consequences it could have on their work schedule. As Richards states, “So far, we’ve only had one or two support workers say that they don’t think they should be required to work unsociable hours.”

In the wake of the campaign, Heavy Load also headlined a concert in London for people with intellectual disabilities. About 400 people attended the event and the party lasted until 1 am. Venue owner Alex Proud said that it was the very first event for and by people with intellectual disabilities he had ever experienced and that it made him realize that they are ‘an untapped source in the entertainment industry’.

Heavy Load was formed 13 years ago, when band members met eachother in the non-profit assisted-living community where they all resided. Since then, they have travelled around the country to perform. They also went to the United States, and were ‘surprised to find that it’s an issue for people with learning disabilities to get out much at all. So there is definitely a need there’.

The band members are now thinking of launching their campaign around the world. Richard added that ‘Stay up Late’ is not all about partying into the night: “We don’t insist on people staying up late against their will, just having the choice to do what they want to do!”

To find out more about the ‘Stay Up Late’-campaign, click here.
To read the original article, click here.