We went to the captioned performance of Dick Whittington and his Cat at the Oxford Playhouse.
Our Deaf members appreciated the captions, unfortunately they were only available on one side of the theatre, but they managed to find alternative seats for some of our members where they could see the captions and the action on the stage.
Christmas Dinner
Thanks to the efforts of the kind people who spent much of the day shopping, preparing and cooking, the Oxford Phab Christmas Dinner was a great success.
Many of our members went to town on the Christmas theme.
Let the feasting begin !
We wish all our members and the many people who have supported us a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Christmas Bingo
We could not meet at Wesley Memorial Church this week as the Oxford Gospel Choir were having a big concert to raise money for Myeloma UK. We were able to hire St Andrews Church Hall to have our Christmas Bingo instead.
Our trusty Bingo machine, and experienced caller adapted well to the different environment, and – as usual – members brought prizes to distribute.
A good time was had by all !
Christmas Crafts
A lot of work (not by me) had gone into preparing Christmas Crafts activities, and the results put in a festive mood.
Annual General Meeting
Once again it was time to look back at what we had done during the year, and look forward to next year, in our Annual General Meeting.
Our chairman, Helen, summed up the year in her report
Oxford Phab Club 2018
Another year has passed, and I can’t believe I am already writing another annual report.
Friday nights filled with fun activities. We have had sports nights doing Boccia, hockey and Zumba. Food nights including pancakes and noodle night, and of course our very own Christmas dinner which was cooked by member and a few friends of Phab. This was really successful as it was a lot more inclusive and we had a lot more room to move around and mingle, which was lovely. We have had a number of arts and crafts nights, had quiz nights, film nights, bingo nights, beetle and we even had a Connect 4 competition night. We have also been invited to many events in the Wesley Memorial Church including the folk festival and the new years party as well as helping raise money for the Open Doors project by helping sell refreshments.
Out and about we had a meal at Oxy, went to a Halloween disco with our friends at Banbury Phab. We went to see Mamma Mia, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Band at the theatre, we took part in two Zumba Fundraisers, went to Donnington Social Club, have been bowling a few times, went to a barbecue at the home of Simon and Sarah. We went to the annual garden party fundraiser this summer.
Last year some of our members went to the South East Phab Fun Weekend back in November last year. We also went back to Avon Tyrell in the New Forest in July. Members got to have a go at many activities including archery and climbing. We cooked marshmallows on an outdoor fire. This year we were also welcomed by the crew of The Dolphin boat in Poole Harbour who took us on a trip around the harbour.
The Roy Lewis Memorial Prize last year was awarded to Darren and Maria for their wedding celebrations.
We have lots of fun activites planned for Christmas and have already booked to see a pantomime early next year (oh yes we have!)
Once again we really do appreciated all the continued support from our friends and families and everyone else who continues to make Phab fab.
Helen Williams Chair, Oxford Phab, November 2018
We had the usual financial reports, election of Officers and the Committee etc. After these routine matters we were very pleased to have Robin, who has organised many quiz nights for us, and Penny, who has been been a valued and helpful member for many years as this year’s recpients of the Roy Lewis Award.
Oxford Light Night
Oxford kicked off it’s Christmas Light Festival with events around the city, and a parade which included New Inn Hall Street in its route.
Wesley Memorial Church was open for the event with a range of activities in the church.
There was blind drawing, badge making, card making as well as a some toys to play with, and an area of quiet respite.
In the John Wesley room Phab and church members gave free refreshments to members of the public.
We were in an ideal spot to watch the parade !
And then to offer doughnuts to passers by.
Zumbathon to raise money for Children in Need
George Martini had taught us a Zumba routine, and we joined a throng of keen Zumba enthusiasts, for a evening of high energy dance, with all the attendees making donations to Children in Need.
This was taken quite early, but by the time the floor was filled with enthusiastic dancers I was too carried away by the event to take pictures.
The Band – Musical night at the Theatre with the music of Take That
It was a cold night outside in Oxford, but there was plenty of warm and energy in the New Theatre, where we saw The Band – a musical featuring a group of teenage girls, fans of the boy band Take That, and their re-union twenty five years later.
The audience responded with enthusiasm to the performance, and we would like to particularly thank the people in the row in front of Tricia and Kelly. They realised that our members, being in wheelchairs, could not see if people were standing in front of them, so made a gap so Kelly and Tricia could still see the rousing finale.
The staff at the theatre were very helpful, producing a ramp to help us get out, when it looked as if a technical hitch with the lift might have prevented us leaving after the show !
Halloween Disco at Banbury Phab
Wow, what a night ! Banbury Phab invited us to their Halloween Disco, which they do in style – we were greeted with a spooky door bell, the hall were they meet was decorated with Halloween table cloths, and there were flying ghosts and witches.
We ate from the plentiful supply of hot dogs, and then Barry, club leader at Banbury Phab for many years had an announcement to make.
He had been to the House of Lords, and been presented with the Paul Hope Award, which is given for outstanding contributions to furthering the aims of PHAB. As he had travelled by coach he did not have the award with him,
but it looks like this.
We know because there were three Paul Hope Award winners in Banbury that night,
Mary was awarded the Paul Hope Award in 2015 and Simon was presented with the Award for 2005.
As if that was not enough excitement for one night, we celebrated a birthday, and then on to the (or another) highlight of the night, the fancy dress competition.
Unfortunately, as I was one of the judges, this does not show the full range of entries, and does not show the winning Pumpkin Patch Kids entry.
Thank you, Banbury Phab, for a memorable evening.
Zumba with rehearsal for Children in Need Zumba night
Zumba is always popular, and tonight we had a real crowd.
After a chance to chat and a cup of tea we moved through into the Hall, where George Martini took us through the Zumba routine which we will be performing at the Zumbathon to raise money for Children in Need.
If you are an Oxford Phab member, and have access to Facebook you can find the video for rehearsal purposes on the Oxford Phab Facebook Group page.
After our rehearsal we moved on to a more general Zumba session
Traditional Zumba with George and assistants leading the session.
Also some more rock style circle dances.