We held our our Annual General Meeting at Wesley Memorial. We had reports from the Chair and Treasurer, and elected the committee for next year.
The Roy Lewis award, which is presented annually for the organisers of the event the members considered the most enjoyable in the last year, was awarded to Danny and his Mum.
We also discussed forthcoming events
Zumba for Children in Need
We joined an energetic crowd at The Christian Life Centre on Cowley road for an evening of Zuma, with Phab performing a routine we first learnt with George Martini at Phab a few weeks ago.
We had a great time, as well as raising money for Children in Need.
Banbury Phab Halloween Disco
We were invited, and very happy to go, to Banbury Phab’s Halloween Disco. As well as a disco they served burgers and hot dogs.
They also had a Halloween themed fancy dress competition and two of our members, entering as a team, came second !
Hot dogs, Hot chocolate and games
As the weather becomes colder, and the evenings darker, it is time for some warming and tasty food.
We ate hot dogs, and cake, and drank – amongst other options – hot chocolate with marshmallows.
Afterwards as well as our normal chatting some of us played the card game Sevens.
Zumba in the refurbished Hall.
This was the first time was had Zumba in the Hall at Wesley Memorial Church since it was refurbished, and we appreciated the extra space to move around.
Once again George Martini came to lead us – we look forward to his sessions.
Zumba can be very fast,
Sometimes it is a little slower.
But it is always fun !
Sports Training Night
Adam, from the English Federation of Disability Sport came to give us an evening of sports training, kindly sponsored by Sainsburys.
We started by writing down what we hoped to get out of the evening.
After that Adam talked a little about the different ways that Disability Sport can be organised
with a test, involving matching captions to descriptions to see if we had been paying attention. Then it was time to get more active !
We played a game where we moved around the hall, going through, or touching, as many rings as we could.
We did several variants of this – here is one.
We also played a game where we divided into two teams. One was trying to get all the bean bags to match the colours of the hoops they were in, and the other team was trying to make sure the colours did not match. Some of the hoops were on chairs to be reachable from a wheelchair.
We played some variations on games of hockey, where the room was divided into areas, and players from each team were assigned an area they played in.
Above is one of the games in action. Green sticks are playing towards one goal, and yellow sticks towards the other.
One useful thing we learnt was to think about flexible ways the space and rules can be used. Here is a diagram of an alternative way of dividing up a playing area, with channels down the sides with players in them.
By the end of the evening we were feeling “Happy and tired”
Donnington Community Centre
As usual we had a warm welcome at Donnington Community Centre, where they were having a fundraising evening for Macmillan Cancer Support. They had many tasty cakes, a raffle, guess how many sweets were in a jar and plenty of people were there to support this.
Normal Club with Hama Beads and Connect 4
We met again in the refurbished hall at Wesley Memorial Church, and as well as sitting and chatting, played Connect 4, and made things with Hama Beads. The new hatch to the kitchen behind the hall allowed the Hama Beads to be ironed on a stainless steel surface 
The hatch is visible behind the Hama Bead makers to the left, and the new podium area to the right.
First club night in the redeveloped Hall at Wesley Memorial
We were all very excited to have our first Club Night after the summer break in the revamped Hall. The overall effect is brighter, and everyone commented on how nice the new floor and paintwork looked.
We admired the new and refurbished rooms, and particularly the new kitchen, which has a large hatch connecting to the hall to allow tea and coffee made in the kitchen to be passed through easily.
Here is view looking out from the new kitchen into the Hall.
Here we can see the new hatch into the kitchen, with a podium space to the right.
We are very grateful to Wesley Memorial Church, and everyone who has contributed to the Open Doors project for the exciting possibilities.
As it was our first time together after the summer we heard about what people had been doing, and discussed what we would like to do in the Autumn programme.
Barbecue at Simon and Sarah's house
Simon and Sarah made us very welcome at their barbecue, with tasty burgers, sausages, chicken, vegetarian sausages etc, as well as snacks, salads and drinks. Simon had put up two gazebos, and had an array of chairs, and some folding tables, as well as stringing lights round the garden to illuminate the scene as darkness fell.
As we are now into the holiday season quite a few people were away, but the 16 who were there enjoyed getting together to eat and chat.
This is towards the end when the remains of the food, and the grill have been packed away, but before the flurry of activity which sees gazebos, folding chairs and all the other essentials of an outdoor event packed neatly and stored, TARDIS-like in Simon’s shed.
Oxford Phab is now on a summer break, but we look forward to getting together again in September.