We went – in our lovely minibus – to the Milton Keynes International Festival to see the Graeae Theatre Company performance of Reasons to be Cheerful.
This is a selection of hits by Ian Dury, arranged and performed by Graeae, with British Sign Language interpretation, and captioning and images related to the lyrics, all woven into a rocking performance.
Here we are arriving at the festival.
And seated in the Spiegeltent before the performance
All good things come to an end and finally we had to leave, getting the minibus home about 1am.
Wesley Memorial Church Garden Party in aid of Phab
After some rather mixed weather over the past month the sun shone on the Wesley Memorial Church annual garden party, with proceeds donated to Oxford Phab.
Members of the church, and of Oxford Phab swum and played games, and ate delicious cakes and scones, and drank many cups of tea and coffee. A beautiful summer day, and we are very grateful to our hosts, and to those who baked cakes, and helped with serving.
Cowley Road Carnival 2016
Once again we are at Cowley Road Carnival, as last years day was successful despite the blustery weather.
We arrived early to start setting up, in a slight drizzle.
Here we are ready for the public.
We have a monkey whose name is known only to a select few, and the public are invited to try to guess his (or her) name to win it for a very reasonable entry fee of 20p. Once again we are next to our friends from Oxford Spires Rotary.
The Mayor of Oxford came past, and later stopped by for a chat.
Many people dropped by to purchase home made sweets, guess the name of the monkey, or chat and find out more about what we do.Luckily the drizzle has stopped and we had better weather for most of the afternoon, until the Carnival closed at 5pm.
Shortly after we started to pack up the rain came on again, but we managed to get most things into shelter until we were able to fetch the minibus and load it to go home.
Tom's Quiz
As well as a normal club night Tom had prepared a quiz. There was a Wordsearch, for everyone to do individually.
Then we divided up into teams, one on the south side of the room and two on the north.
There was a picture themed section on identifying television programmes,
The programmes were from a range of eras, and covered a range of interests.
There was also a general knowledge quiz, and a musical section where we were asked to identify films or television programmes from their theme tunes.
We enjoyed the evening, and many thanks to Tom for the work he put in to prepare the quiz.
Evening Activities at Hinksey Heights Golf Club
We had an exciting evening of Footgolf at Hinksey Heights Golf Club, enjoying the fantastic view over Oxford and having a tasty meal. We are very grateful to the staff for looking after us so well.
Heading for the Footgolf
The view from the course is amazing, as you can see below:
We make up our own bonus activities !
Here we are out on the course !
and here is our PeerTube playlist for the event
Treasure Hunt
Mexican Evening
Hinksey Heights Golf Club Captains Charity Day.
Oxford Phab is the captain’s charity this year and we are are here at the Captain’s Charity Day.
For the Captain’s Charity Day all the players arrive in time for a simultaneous start, and the different team each start at a different tee.
Many people generously contributed to the raffle, and we sold raffle tickets to the players before they left.
They players are out on the course …
in the rain, but we are in the marquee …
with tea
and bacon butties.
It was still a better day to be inside with Phab than outside playing golf!
DJ Lee arrived and set up his disco.
The players returned from their round of golf, the scores were calculated and the winners were announced.
The weather cleared up a little and we enjoyed a chance to try putting, a bit of Foot Golf, the disco and barbecue.
Danny's 30th Birthday Party
Danny kindly invited Oxford Phab to his 30th Birthday Party at The Gladiator Club
Phab members clubbed together to get him a voucher towards a Fitbit.
We bought him some other goodies as well.
Which he put with his other presents from friends and relatives.
Phab members at the partyThere was good food, and a really good disco, which got us up on the floor (but was not good for pictures !)
Heartbeat Hike 2016 at Wicksteed Park
Heartbeat Hike is one of our main Fundraising events of the year – so please donate.
Arrival and Registration
A small team from Oxford Phab arrived early to set up a registration desk.
Sound systems being set up at The Rotunda
Oxford Phab at the registration desk.
Clubs came from all over the country – many had made banners, which were later judged in a Best Banner Competition.
A selection of the banners, plus the flag of the Midlands Region.
Entertainment at the Bandstand
While clubs were arriving from far and near there was plenty to keep them entertained.
Fancy Dress competition
Official Start of Heartbeat Hike Wicksteed
As people finished they had their book stamped, were given a medal and were offered a drink of water.
No pictures of this actually happening as this was a hectic time, so this was taken after the rush had gone.
More entertainment at the Bandstand
While people ate their packed lunch there was more entertainment at the Bandstand
Facepainting
Phab goodies on sale
Music from Acoustic Us – a four piece Northampton band playing a variety of music.
https://vimeo.com/169728293
George Martini doing a Zumba session as part of the afternoon activities – an amazing amount of energy on such a hot day.
More music with Helen and Garth
Train Ride
Some members bought discounted (with Phab membership card) wrist bands and went on the rides, but others had a more sedate train ride !
Packing up and going home
We packed up the Registration desk, and loaded the minibus, ready for the journey home.