Boccia

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.

Club Night with Boccia

We had an enjoyable series of games of Boccia, refereed by Tom.

As we get better some games become harder to decide the score

Sometimes the scoring is easier !

As the Christian Aid Market was setting up in the John Wesley Room, we set up the Hall, both for those who wanted to sit and chat, and an area to play Boccia. This gave the Boccia players an appreciative audience.

It was great to have Hank and Joy join us for a game of Boccia. We all love to try new things and Boccia was new to them.

Tom refereed, and the games were often exciting, sometimes the jack would be hit and moved at the last minute, completely changing the state of play.

Club Night with Boccia

We played Boccia in the Hall, as well as our usual conversation and cups of tea or coffee in the John Wesley Room.
We are fortunate to have an experienced player who knows the rules, and who acted as our adjudicator, here checking that blue is now the closest to the jack.

Trying to get a blue closer to the jack than the nearest red.

Boccia – It's my favourite !

We all enjoy Boccia, and some really enjoy it. The “It’s my favourite” exclamation was the response by one of our Oxford Phab members to finding that we were playing Boccia that night. As usual we play in the Hall at Wesley Memorial Church, which makes a great space for it.
This week we were especially fortunate that Tom, who actually knows the proper rules, was directing operations, and giving generous doses of encouragement.

Normal Club with Boccia

We caught up with what everyone had been doing over Easter, and then we played Boccia in the Hall.

Normal Club with Boccia

We livened up our normal club meeting with a game of Boccia in the Hall at Wesley Memorial Church.

Our custom made Boccia ramp ( a piece of guttering) is visible in the foreground.

Boccia – but not as we know it !

Normally our games of Boccia are pretty similar to anyone else’s, but this is something you don’t see in the Paralympics.

The red ball is on top of the white !
For comparison – this is how it should look

Normal Club with Boccia

As well as a little celebrating …

we played Boccia in the Hall.

This is the first time we used our new Boccia ramp (a piece of guttering).

Lord Mayor's challenge

The Lord Mayor of Oxford, Councillor Rae Humberestone, visited Oxford Phab to meet the members (several of whom he knew already) and take part in a quiz, with a baked potato supper and a game of Boccia.
We were joined by visitors from Wesley Memorial Church, in particular from the Open Doors project and the John Wesley Society, which made it a particularly enjoyable evening.

The arrival

Mary and Helen welcoming the Lord Mayor.
The Mayor greeting members.

The quiz

Helen had prepared a quiz, so we divided up into four teams,

The Mayor’s team – called The Chain Gang – working on the quiz

Some of the other teams, hard at work.

Helen reading out the questions.

The supper

After the quiz we ate a meal of jacket potatoes with savoury mince, tuna, cheese or baked beans, followed by tea or coffee.

Boccia in the Church

We moved through into the church, where there was more space for a game of Boccia.
Trisha enjoying Boccia in the church
The Mayor bowled well, but his team did not quite catch up with the lead the General Ignorance team had built up in the quiz.

Presenting the prizes

At the end of the evening the Lord Mayor presented The Lord Mayor’s Challenge Cup to some members of the winning team. There were also chocolates which were shared with anyone who wanted one.
We hope Rae will be able to return next year, as Deputy Mayor for another Lord Mayor’s Challenge