The Vale of White Horse PHAB Club, which has met at Christchurch, Northcourt, Abingdon for the past 41 years, held its final gathering with a celebration meal at Coseners House on Thursday 30 July.
The celebration followed one last club outing a week earlier, when members enjoyed a trip to the Cotswold Wildlife Park on Thursday 23 July.
The club’s closure marks the end of an era for its 25 members. Nigel and Barbara Carter, who have led the club throughout its 41-year history, are retiring, while the club’s secretary, Colin, is stepping down after 25 years of dedicated service.
The club was founded by Nigel and Barbara’s son, David, who wanted to create opportunities for disabled and non-disabled people to enjoy activities together, valueing everybodies unique gifts. Nigel and Barbara helped him establish the club and, following David’s death, continued his vision, enabling it to flourish for more than four decades.
Over the years, members have enjoyed a wide variety of activities, welcoming countless entertainers, speakers and visitors who helped make meetings both enjoyable and memorable, and going on many outings. The annual Christmas meals at Cosener’s House became a much-loved tradition, making it a fitting venue for the club’s final celebration.
Although the formal club is coming to an end, the friendships built over four decades will continue. Members will meet informally about once a month at a local pub for a chat, a catch-up and a few games.
Nigel began his farewell speech by inviting everyone to sing along to We Are Family and ended it with So Long Farewell from Sound of Music. As people left at the end Nigel gave everybody a handshake as he normally has every week, but this time he also presented them a commemorative PHAB White Horse Abingdon 1985–2026 medal.
Reflecting on the years gone by, Nigel encouraged everyone to continue in the “PHAB way of doing things”, with a spirit of friendship, mutual support, and valuing each other. He recalled many happy memories, from Christmas celebrations to inspirational moments such as members learning sign language to perform together as a deaf choir. Above all, he paid tribute to the courage, determination and vision of his son David Carter, whose desire to bring disabled and non-disabled people together created a club that has enriched hundreds of lives.