Games – Oxford Phab

Boccia – in the church

Normally we play Boccia in the Hall, but as the church had been booked for a science fair and the John Wesley room were we normally chat was laid out of lectures so we resorted to the Atrium (which is a pleasant space, but a bit long and thin to chat, and has a slight slope – not ideal for Boccia.

Luckily there was enough room in the main part of the church – and most or the chairs had been moved – so this became our Boccia area.

And a good time was had by all – they had even put up festive bunting for us!

Indoor Curling

We played several games of Indoor Curling, for which the Hall at Wesley Memorial Church is ideal, as a large space with a smooth wooden floor. The game has a mat for a target and ‘stones’ which roll on ball bearings.

It works well for Phab as it can be played by a seated player, and does not require sweepers, or an ability to ice skate.

Easter Bingo

Once again members were very generous in the prizes they brought to our Easter Bingo – the beautifully wrapped mugs with cute teddies and bunnies made by Tom’s mum were particularly admired and eagerly sought as prizes.

As we usually do, we play a rule that people who have already won a big prize pick a small prize if/when they win again and we play until all the prizes have been won, so nobody goes home empty handed (unless they ate their prizes on the night!)

Tom did out bingo calling, with assistance from Libby, who informed us of notable events from the twentieth century which the number which had been called, such as 14 – 1914 – Start of the First World War.

Boccia

As well as our usual cups of tea or coffee and chat we played several games of Boccia. There was some fluidity in the teams, with some members playing for either, or both, while our keenest Manchester United supporters insisted on playing Red.

As we usually do, some of our members use our improvised ramp, made from a piece of plastic gutter, while others threw freehand. As usual with Phab the games were filled with some unexpectedly good throws – as well as some really wild ones which makes it more exciting than you might expect.

Christmas Bingo

One of our traditions at Christmas and Easter is that we bring small prizes to Phab and play Bingo to redistribute them.

As well as festive chocolate bars etc we have chocolate brussels sprouts and other small prizes for people who win a second time. We also try to make sure we have prizes for those of us who can’t eat chocolate.

We sometimes vary from the traditional bingo calls, this time, since we meet in church hall, we uses the names of Hymns from Hymns and Psalms, for example “25 – He’s got the whole world in his hand”, rather and “25 – Duck and Dive”.

An interesting Quiz Night

Tom and Martha teamed up to give us another interesting and well-balanced quiz. Questions included recognizing biscuits and board games from pictures, some of only a part of the subject – enough for the teams to know they have seen it, but not always enough to be able to identify it.

We play in teams, and it is helpful to have a range of interests on the team, and surprising to find out what members know. We also learnt some things that none of us knew, such as that a sloth takes two weeks to digest a meal, and that the animal which produces cuboid poo is the wombat. We also played a couple of Rebus games, which some members had not encountered, and enjoyed once they caught on to the format.

Easter Bingo

Once again, as we like to do in the run up to Easter, we asked member to bring in prizes, and played Bingo to redistribute them.

This year the prizes included some home grown chilies, which the winners turned into a tasty meal, with sea bass and ginger.

Initially we used traditional Bingo calls, such as ’59 – Brighton Line’, but moved on to our own variant, using Hymns from Singing the Faith, thus ‘59 – Lord the light of your love is shining‘ – with audience participation for the catchy ones.

Wesley Memorial Church Party

Like many other social activities the Wesley Memorial Church party, normally held in January, had not taken place since 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Having decided it was time to resume the tradition they kindly invited Phab.

The evening began with socialising and a quiz, involving identifying a range of people, each famous in their own way, ranging from John Wesley to Little Mix, from pictures posted on the walls of the John Wesley Room.

This was followed by a bring and share meal in the Hall, where church members had made a variety of tasty salad, and brought little sausages, crisps and other snacks. This was followed by range of desserts and fresh fruit.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, and while a stalwart team in the kitchens laboured over the clearing up, we played several games of Beetle.

Christmas Bingo

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.

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.