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.
Category: Games
Games nights
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tom’s Quiz
Tom’s wide range of questions reflected his wide range of interests, as well as the interests of club members. We played in teams, which was lucky, as the chances of a single individual (apart, presumably from Tom) being able to recognise, in the picture round, scenes from Paw Patrol and Gone with the Wind, were pretty slim.
Birthday and Beetle
Nell has been coming to Phab for many years – not every week, as it is a long trip down from Cumbria. We were pleased to be able to celebrate her 90th birthday, with a cake, and a card.
She then joined us in playing Beetle – and had the highest score !
Helen did the most artistic Beetles
Christmas Bingo
Despite having been up all the previous night, watching the Election results and raising over £100 pounds for Oxford Phab, Tom was still awake to act as our Bingo caller for our usual selection of prizes brought in by members.
We all had a good time, and everybody wins prizes.
Kelly and Tricia getting into the Christmas spirit with seasonal jumpers !
Video Games Night
Sarah put a lot of preparation into the Video Games night. She prepared a presentation with information about the Handheld Computer game systems she owns, putting them into their historical context and telling us more about them.
A slide from the presentation 
Simon – projection operator
She also brought along a selection of handheld game consoles and some games
and told us about them
We also had George Martini come to give us a Zumba refresh, and we celebrated Wendy’s forthcoming birthday with cake !
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 !
Avon Tyrrell 2019 – Canoeing, Zipwire, Archery and Pizzas !
Unfortunately the hoist at the boathouse was broken, so only a small group (who also had to be prepared to forego a Sunday lie-in) were able to go canoeing.
As we always find, the instructor was very good, and had everybody playing ‘tag’ – which he was much better at than everybody else !
A group, mostly of members who had not been able to have a go last year, had a chance to try the Zip Wire.
It was a thrilling experience !
While some members were on the Zip Wire, others were trying their hand at Archery, as we did last year.
Having worked up a good appetite we returned to the Lodge for home made pizza as our Pizza Night in June had gone so well.
Fueled by our lunch we loaded the minibus and cars and went home for a rest !