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.
Author: john
Club night with Christmas Crafts
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.
Phab South East Fun Weekend 2022
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.
Friday
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.
Saturday
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.
Sunday
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 Light Night and Games
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.
Annual General Meeting 2022
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.
Pizza Night !
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 !
Zumba with George Martini
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.
Club night with Table Games
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 !
Glorious Evening at Hinksey Heights Golf Course
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 !
Oxford Phab return to Avon Tyrrell
We greatly enjoyed our Phab holiday in 2019, where we visited the New Forest Wildlife park and had a camp fire, and did high ropes, the climbing wall, archery, and some did canoeing and the zipwire. We had such a good time that we booked to go again in 2020, but a Global Pandemic upset our plans (as well as those of many others).
The ever helpful staff at Avon Tyrrell allowed us to roll over our booking to 2021, and then again to 2022 – and our much anticipated return became a reality. Sadly some of the members who came with us in 2019 could not join us on this trip, however we were joined by some people who had never been on a Phab holiday before, and a fresh perspective on trip was refreshing. As one of them, Libby, said
What an awesome weekend. It was great to spend some quality time with a range of top folk, learning together, challenging each other to get outside our comfort zones but knowing that we all had each other’s backs. It was a fun weekend, packed with lots of different activities and things to do, but one where we had the space and time to chillax and rest.
This sums the weekend perfectly.
It could not have happened without a lot of hard work, particularly from Mary, our club leader, but also financial contributions from The Bruce Wake Trust and Wesley Memorial Church. Their contributions enabled the holiday to be affordable for all our members.
Before holiday started a lot of effort had gone into buying food etc, cookng, and packing 
Essential supplies packed !
Activities
We had a very action packed weekend, with different activities happening in parallel, so on Friday afternoon some groups were doing Archery, and some Canoeing. On Saturday we all went to Poole, where one group went on a boat trip to Wareham, another to Brownsea Island and another explored Poole town. On Sunday were further opportunities for Archery, Canoeing, High Ropes and the Climbing Wall.
Archery
Canoeing
Tom in the hoist 
The canoes were used in pairs, joined together with a plank securely roped to the boats, making them very stable.
High Ropes
Tricia climbing the tree 
Pulling herself along the high wire 
Terry walking the tight wire 
Terry reaches the end 
Sarah – very high up 
Helen enjoying the High Ropes
The High Ropes allowed us to push our boundaries, as well as simply have fun !
Climbing Wall
Helen climbing 
Chris at the top 
Tom ready to start the ascent 
Libby at the top 
Tricia climbing 
Hanging in there 
Abseiling down 
Triumphant return to earth
The climbing wall had been replaced since our last visit, now even higher !
Poole
Our day out in Poole was so filled with variety that it deserves its own article – here.
The adventure continues …
The holiday was so good that we have already started planning for a return in 2023, meanwhile, if anyone who went has memories or pictures suitable for sharing on a public web site, please contact me, or post a comment.