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.

Eyes Down for a First Line

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.

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.

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

The canoes were used in pairs, joined together with a plank securely roped to the boats, making them very stable.

High Ropes

The High Ropes allowed us to push our boundaries, as well as simply have fun !

Climbing Wall

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.

Easter Bingo and Crafts

We have a tradition of playing Bingo in the run up to Easter, where our members bring Easter Eggs and other goodies, and then we play Bingo – the prizes being the treats that we have brought.

Easter Bingo Prizes

Once again Tom kindly volunteered to be our caller, his good humour and patience when we lose our place making the evening enjoyable for everyone.

Tom, at the controls of our Bingo machine

As if Bingo was not enough for one evening, we had a craft session too !

We were making butterflies to be used as decoration for the Purple Extravaganza – a Fun and Fundraising Ball being hosted by Harlow Phab, to raise money for the Kelly Jackson Memorial Fund. Kelly was an active member of Oxford Phab for many years, who liked purple and butterflies, and her presence is missed.