We enjoyed Mamma Mia the musical so much when it came to Oxford in 2017 that as soon as we knew it was coming back in 2023 we booked it again at the New Theatre.
We were not disappointed – an evening full of familiar songs and well executed dance numbers left us humming the tunes as we loaded our minibus for the way home.
One of our Christmas traditions is that we play Bingo for chocolates and other small prizes, brought in by members, and enjoyed by other members. We have our own bingo machine, and re-usable bingo cards, which we mark off with old plastic bottle tops as counters. With a jolly caller, enthusiastic players and plenty of prizes we are all set for an evening of entertainment.
With Christmas approaching it is useful to be able to make little personal gifts for friends or family, or to decorate our homes with festive decorations.
We also added a little to the board of memory we had made at the Phab Southeast Fun Weekend, as not all our members had gone to that.
After a longer than usual interval, caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic, we returned to Chichester Park Hotel, who had made us so welcome in 2019 (and 2017 and 2015).
As on previous occasions the staff were very helpful with things like given out extra room key cards for some of our members who might need to give easy access to someone to let them in without the room occupant needing to come to the door.
Once again we used a combination of our minibus and two cars pick up members from various places and take them from Oxford to Chichester – the journey being complicated this time by the dual-carriageway Chichester bypass being closed – so all traffic was being routed through the town centre, and an alarming warning light on one of the cars which required an unscheduled stop to investigate. Despite this we all arrived safely at the hotel and were able to unpack and relax until it was time for the evening buffet meal. This was accompanied, and followed, by entertainment from DJ Lee. When everyone had eaten there was space for a disco and Karaoke.
The morning and afternoon activities were similar to previous years, featuring Amazing Animals, Zumba, Crafts and Laughter Yoga.
The Boccia session was very popular, with some skilled and tactical players
There is nothing like an exciting and close fought match to work up a thirst for coffee in the bar afterwards to discuss the game.
After the activities there was plenty of time to socialise and prepare for the evening dinner.
For some members, Sunday morning was an opportunity for a lie-in and a late breakfast, but for some Phab members, from all over the South East, there was an act of worship. We reflected on how much the world had changed since we last gathered in 2019, the friends we had lost, the things we had gained, such as online meetings, and the things which have remained the same, such as our friendships within Phab.
Then we had a Sunday Lunch
Packed up the minibus, and went home – for a rest !
Oxford celebrates turning on its Christmas lights with an evening of activities at various venues, one of those being Wesley Memorial Church,
We started the evening in the Sanctuary – the main part of the church, where we chatted amongst ourselves and with church people and members of the public. We also ate Pizza, Stollen and Mince Pies. Amongst other activities one of church member was drawing caricatures of people, including some of our members.
We then moved through to the hall, and worked off some of the pizza with some hockey and boccia.
Like last year, our Annual General meeting was hybrid, with the physical part of the meeting at Wesley Memorial Church. As Covid is still with us, having an online connection allowed members who could not come in person, through testing positive or other reasons, to join in. Using automatically generated subtitles allowed the chair and club co-ordinator’s words to be displayed, although some BSL signing was still needed.
Our AGMs are fairly routine, we approved the minutes from last year’s AGM, our treasurer presented the accounts, and our chair presented her annual report.
We did not present the Roy Lewis award at the AGM, but hope to do so at the Christmas dinner, which we are all looking forward to.
Activities involving food are always popular, and tonight was no exception ! With a team in the kitchen making pizza bases our members could add toppings of their choice and return them to the kitchen for cooking.
We had a wide selection of toppings to choose from so each one came out different. Almost a metaphor for Phab, in that they are all different at first sight, but built from the same base, and all valued as individuals !
One of the highlights of our online sessions, when we could not get together in person during the Covid pandemic were our Zumba sessions with George Martini.
These allowed people to participate who would not have been able to get to an in-person Zumba session. Also, as one member observed ‘You can turn your camera off and really go wild !’. On the other hand being together and being able to see how others are doing can be inspiring as well as inhibiting.
George is always very positive and encouraging with us, and makes sure the sessions match our abilities. We are already looking forward to having another Zumba session in our next programme.
It was great to meet up at Wesley Memorial, and as have a chance to catch up with what some members have been doing over the past fortnight. Our online meetings allow some of our members, who are unable to join us in person, to still meet up, but others prefer to meet face to face.
As well as chatting we enlivened the evening with a variety of table top games, including ‘The Sock Game‘ – which is simple, but highly entertaining !
The weather had been much too hot for our originally planned event, of a walk round Farmoor Reservoir, so the friendly people at Hinksey Heights Golf Course accommodated our last minute request to meet there, and we were able to put in some food orders in advance.
We were able to chat, eat and drink in the shade, looking back on our recent trip to Avon Tyrrell, and letting members who had not had a chance to come hear all about it.
We also celebrated some recent birthdays with cakes and cup cakes !