Issue 4 Christmas 2012

Quack & Tweet News from Aylesbury Area Disabled Club

Registered Charity No. 289068

President Cllr Freda Roberts MBE Vice President Mr Derek Rolfe

E &O E.

LETTER FROM EDITOR – Mandy Oxlade

Dear Friends

As another year comes to a close I would like to take the opportunity to

thank all club members for their continuing support. Building on the

success that the club has already enjoyed this year, there was a small team

of swimmers that took part in the Aldershot swimming gala. The dry sports

team have continued to build on their success and take part in games at a

couple of new sporting venues this year. One at Crawley and one was at

Stanmore.

May I remind you all that from time to time there are things that come up

that do not make it into the magazine. This is usually because it has missed

the deadline or there is not an edition due out. However for those of you

who have access to the internet you can always check the diary on our club

website.

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed items for the newsletter

over the year. However to continue to build on this we do still need your

articles no matter how small they may be.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our club members Merry

Christmas and a Happy new year.

If you have any items for the next edition of the magazine please send

them either by post to me or they can be emailed.

Mandy Oxlade

16 Barbel Close

Earley

READING

RG6 1AQ

Email: newsletter@aadc.co.uk

THE CLOSING DATE FOR NEXT EDITON IS 28TH FEBRUARY

2013

Happy Christmas Everyone

Instead of sending individual cards this year we are giving a donation to the club in lieu of

cards.

Happy Christmas and a

Healthy 2013 from:-

Mike, Val & Kate King, Lin Smith,

Diane & Steve Everest & Family,

Rob Bleasdale, Jeanne Ware, Jim,

John White & Family, Ted Lodge,

Diane White, Pat Gray, Viv Jones,

Margaret & Pat Batten, Alex Donhou,

Pete, Ruth & Cass Evett,

Julian & Margaret Stevens,

Shirley Price, Jon Martin,

Tony & Barbara Hawkins,

Patricia & Bill Hopcraft,

Sue Golding, Tracy Chatfield,

Mark White, Helen Robinson,

Eileen Doughton, Linda Green,

Steve &Rebecca Merrick, Woody,

Derek Rolfe, Mandy and Chris

Welfare Update Congratulations to Stuart and Jane Banks who celebrated their Ruby Wedding recently. Best wishes to Julian Stevens who has had an operation on his shoulder. We look forward to seeing you &Margaret again soon. Fiona Poole has been coping with several health issues recently. We hope you feel really well again soon. It is good to see Margaret Batten back at swimming after having a nasty fall, we missed you. John White has had a time in hospital recently; we wish you a quick recovery John. Congratulations to Sue Golding on the safe arrival of her granddaughter Isla. To all our club members we may have not seen recently we miss you and hope to see you before too long. If you know of a club member who may like a Get Well card from the club please let me know. I can be contacted on 01296 712889 or at welfare@aadc.co.uk. Milestone Birthdays:- Congratulations to Chris Banks who will be 30 on January 2nd Best wishes to Ian Rhodes on his 70th Birthday on January 20th. Happy Birthday to Margaret Stevens on her 65th Birthday on February 16th and Many Happy returns to Eileen Doughton as she celebrates her 90th Birthday on March 4th. Also, Happy 9th Birthday on March 22nd to Matthew White.

Happy Birthday to all club members who will be celebrating a birthday in the coming months.

Diane White

SOCIALS We do not have a social evening in January. Following the Christmas Party, our next social will be on Thursday 7th February 2013. If you would like any particular activity to be arranged for one of our social evenings, please speak to our chairman Mike King or our secretary Lin Smith Thank you.

Club Shirts & Badges The club are looking to place another order for club shirts at the following prices. Embroidered Badges (only) £4.50 Polo Shirts £11.00 T Shirts £9.50 Sweatshirt £16.00 Chris Brown has some sample shirts available to try before you place the order.

MESSAGE FROM THE TEAM MANAGER

I would like to congratulate all my team on another successful season. The team have won 4 team trophies. Chris Brown

Christmas Dinner 15th December 2012

Our Christmas dinner has been booked for the above date and will once again be held at the Charter restaurant. . Again this year Diane Everest has volunteered to organize the evening. Last year’s was a huge success and everyone that came had a lovely time. Both the meal and service was excellent. My sincere thanks to Diane. I hope to see you all there. Mike King Chairman

JUBILEE YEAR I think most people will agree this has been a very special year for Britain. Along with the Olympics, The Queen’s Jubilee has been a major highlight to be celebrated. To mark this occasion, Stoke Mandeville Parish Council has had Commemorative Jubilee coins made, a quantity of which has been given to us for our members. However, there are insufficient coins for every member so if you would like to have one, please let Lin Smith know as soon as possible. Please bear in mind these coins are purely commemorative and are NOT issued by the Royal Mint. Lin can be contacted in person on club nights, by telephone on 01296 484742, or by email: secretary@aadc.co.uk.

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT – DON’T DELAY.

FUND RAISING UPDATE As you will be aware there has been some fund raising activities taking place over the last few months. We have had the sponsored Swim and also the Kings coffee morning.

COFFEE MORNING

The coffee morning held at our home on the 1st of September was very successful and raised a total of £95.00 for the club. My thanks to my wife Val for making lots of cakes and providing tea, coffee, etc.

Also thank you to both those who contributed and supported us. We had many friends who made an effort to come along, without whom the morning would not have been so successful. Mike King Chairman

SPONSORED SWIM – THE RESULTS!

A grand total of 548 lengths of the pool were swum which is 13.7 kilometres or approx 8 miles, resulting in a magnificent sponsorship collection of £1,448. 60.

Sincere thanks once again to all the Helpers, Sponsors and (in alphabetical order) the following swimmers:

Karen & Malcolm Calthorpe, Alex Donhou, Diane & Michael Everest, Vivien Jones, Katie King, Katie Massey,

Mandy Oxlade, Fiona Poole, Shirley Price and Diane White. VERY WELL DONE TO EVERYONE Christmas card Donations – Diane White

The money made from the Christmas card donations was £100.00. My thanks go to everyone that made donations.

Slough Games – 1st/2nd September 2012

Michael Everest: Gold Slalom, Discus, Snooker, Silver Pool. Special Award for Wheelchair Dash. John White: Gold Slalom, Darts, Javelin, Bowls, Silver Table Tennis. Mark Jordan: Gold Pool, Wheelchair Race, Team Boccia. Silver Slalom, Javelin, Shot, Snooker, Myles Stonell: Gold Archery, Silver Petanque, Discus, Bob Taylor: Gold Table Tennis, Snooker, Silver Javelin, Discus, Pool, Draughts, Archery. Silver Team Boccia. Overall male champion. Chris Brown: Special award for Petanque, Silver Team Boccia Chris Baker: Gold Walking race, Dominoes, Silver Snooker, Archery, Draughts. Mandy Oxlade: Gold Snooker, Silver Table Tennis, Petanque, Short, Javelin, Discus, Pool, w/c dash, Team Boccia. Cass Evett: Gold Team Boccia, Walking Race Silver Discus. Loretta Baughan: Gold Discus, Team Boccia, Silver Javelin, Archery. Special award Boccia. Special award for Jim and Steve for running the Snooker. AADC also won the team trophy.

Basingstoke Games 8th September 2012

Mark Jordan: Gold Javelin, Shot, Beanbag. Golf, Skittles, Silver Discus, Horseshoes, Bronze Target Bowls, Sjoeball, shave half penny. Bob Taylor: Gold Javelin. Club, Silver Discus. Poke Dice, Skittles, Bronze Horseshoes. Michael Everest: Gold Discus, Horseshoes, Table Skittles, Target Bowls, Silver Javelin, Shot, Golf, Darts, Skittles, Bronze Beanbag. Chris Brown: Gold Golf, Bronze Poke Dice. Mandy Oxlade: Gold Short, Shave half penny, Silver Discus, Golf, Bronze Javelin, darts, Beanbag. Chris Baker: Gold Skittles, Shove Half Penny, Table Tennis, bronze Target Bowls. Cass Evett: Gold Javelin, Silver Shot, Discus, Bronze Sjoeball, Loretta Baughan: Gold Discus, Silver Club Audrey Lightfoot: Gold Table Skittles, Silver Table Tennis, Sjoeball

DRY SPORTS TEAM

Once again its fantastic news results for our team, and the amount of medals won this year is PHENOMENAL. Chris Brown our sports manager and his team have achieved resounding success. WELL DONE one and all. Let’s not forget that they promote our club at all these away games, and this is why, through their efforts

Our club is held in such great esteem. Thankyou one and all. Mike King

Phoenix Games 15th September 2012 Mark Jordan: Gold Slalom, Target Bowls, Shot, Bronze Skittles Mandy Oxlade: Gold Kurling, Shot, Discus, Javelin, Club. Silver Slalom, Basketball, Bob Taylor: Gold Mini Crossbow, Discus, Javelin, Skittles, Club Silver Boccia, Stickball, Bronze Kurling, Darts, Michael Everest; Gold Discus, Silver Darts, Bronze Slalom, Myles Stonell: Silver Slalom, Chris Brown: Silver Kurling, Audrey Lightfoot: Silver Target Bowls. Bronze Basketball. Chris Baker: Silver Skittles, Bronze Stickball, Cass Evett: Silver Discus, Bronze Shot,

Stanmore Games 14th October 2012 Chris Brown Gold Bowls, Bronze Table Tennis Chris Baker: Gold Darts, Gold Table Tennis Bob Taylor: Gold Stickball John White: Gold Bagatelle, Table Tennis, Silver Darts, Stickball. Loretta Baughan: Gold Kurling, Bronze Bagatelle Cass Evett: Silver Bowls. Bagatelle Mandy Oxlade: Bronze Table Tennis

Rushmoor Mallards Swimming Gala 20th October 2012

Katie King: Gold 25m Backstroke, Silver 25m Breaststroke Linda Green: Gold 25m Backstroke, Silver 25m Freestyle Bronze 100m Freestyle. Mandy Oxlade: Gold 25m Freestyle, Silver Breaststroke

Aldershot Swimming Gala On Saturday the 20th October, the annual swimming gala at Aldershot was held. As a club we had three members participating, being Mandy, Linda, and Katie. They all entered four events. The results were FANTASTIC. They won seven medals between them, Mandy and Katie, a gold and silver each. Linda with a gold, silver, and bronze Well done it was an excellent effort. The most disappointing aspect was that apart from us, Katie's parents and Eileen Doughton,and sports manager Chris Brown ,no one else from the club, came to support them!!! This is a great shame, as the club has many members, who could both take part and swim, OR come along and support. Please think how you could contribute towards supporting such events Val King

Guildford Games and Swimming Gala 18th November

Cass Evett Silver Kurling, Bronze Basketball, Med Ball, Loretta Baughan: Gold Med Ball, Bronze Basketball, Swans Challenge Trophy. Chris Brown: Gold Bagatelle Michael Everest: Bronze Med Ball Bob Taylor: Bronze Carpet Bowls Myles Stonell: Gold Kurling Mandy Oxlade: Silver Basketball, Silver Table Tennis.

Swimming Gala Mandy Oxlade: Silver 25m Freestyle, Bronze 25m Backstroke, 25m Breaststoke, Linda Green; Gold 25m Backstroke, 25m Freestyle, Silver 50m Freestyle Katie King: Bronze 25m Freestyle.

SNOOKER Through Wheelpower I manage to arrange a snooker evening on the 26th September. On the actual evening a total of 6 club members came and really enjoyed a game. Also Ruth, Pete, Val, and Kate came along to give their support. We will be holding another evening soon and hopefully it will be better supported. Mike King

AADC AWARDS 2012

2012 will be drawing to a close sooner than we think. Once

Christmas has been and gone, the New Year will dawn and it will

be time for all members to decide who they wish to nominate for

the Club annual awards. Nomination forms will be sent to you

early in the New Year and you should be ready to complete them

with the name of the person (disabled or non-disabled) who you

feel has done most for the Club during the past 12 months. This

is called the Mike Downey Memorial Cup. Similarly, you will be

asked to nominate someone for the Rose Bowl which is given to a

disabled member who you think has achieved the most within the

club in a personal capacity.

Next year’s AGM will take place on Thursday 7th March 2013. At

this time your new committee will be formed. It is very

important for you to nominate who you wish to have on this

committee, so please start asking committee members if they

wish to be re-elected and ask non- committee members who you

feel would make a good contribution to the committee, if they

will agree to be nominated. Don’t leave this to everyone else!

REMEMBRANCE DAY

AADC took part in the annual Remembrance Day service which took place in Aylesbury Town Centre. Katie and I laid the wreath on behalf of all of club members Chris Brown

Poem by an anonymous 14 year old boy from Thame who attends Aylesbury Grammar School:

Yesterday today and tomorrow

Yesterday, I heard the crack of gunfire at dawn and imagined families as they mourn. Today, I eat the usual plain tasteless food and remembered the taste of wine – freshly brewed. Tomorrow, I will enter the battlefield to defend and watch in horror as a bullet hits my friend. Yesterday, you complained about life in the trenches and tried to block out the horrible stenches. Today, you write a letter to your wife and watch soldiers as they sharpen their knives. Tomorrow, you will man a piece of artillery and put dying soldiers out of their misery. Yesterday, he played a game of cards like competitive children in the schoolyard. Today, he sneezes from a cold and he wipes his hand on the wall covered with mould. Tomorrow, he will experience war and scream in pain as he hits the floor. Yesterday, they laughed as they read a book and covered their ears as the ground shook. Today, they exercise in preparation for the battle but one of them trips and breaks their ankle. Tomorrow, they will crouch to avoid the gas and choke to death as they die en masse. Yesterday, we celebrated of our comrades’ special day and we danced and swayed. Today, we hope that the conflict will end soon and pass the time by humming a little tune. Tomorrow, we will go over the top but, in a mere matter of seconds, in our paths we will be stopped Jeanne Ware

The Day I Fed an Elephant.

Whipsnade Zoo recently had a special weekend where members of the public could feed an elephant. A small charge was made and all the money raised went to help conservation of wild elephants in Thailand. As elephants are my favourite animal I HAD to go to the zoo that day. After feeding an elephant we had a look round a market of elephant related items. My husband treated me to a bag with pictures of elephants on it. I commented that Shirley Price also loved these wonderful creatures and we decided to get a bag for her. We had talked about the special weekend but Shirley

thought she would not be able to go, so a small memento for her seemed like a good idea. We decided to look round the rest of the Zoo and round the next corner, we bump into Shirley! We all went to watch

the elephant display. After this we persuaded Shirley to have a go at feeding an elephant and took some photos of her. I think we both had a very special day with these big but gentle animals. Diane White

Blue Badge Update

Since the last item regarding renewing a Blue Badge

the cost has changed. Since September 2012 it is now

£10.00. per badge.

It is still advisable to allow at least 8

weeks to allow for your badge to be

renewed.

Diane White

For Sale.

If any members have items for sale or want to

advertise events i.e. a garage sale, this can now

be done in the club magazine. The cost is £3.00.

for a full page and £2.00. for half a page.

If you wish to put an advert in the magazine

please send it on A5 paper to

newsletter@aadc.co.uk or send to Mandy at the

address in the magazine. Payment in advance.

Cash or Cheques, payable to A.A.D.C. should be

given to Secretary, Lin Smith, or Chairman, Mike

King. Advertisements will be subject to space

being available in the magazine.

Mission Impossible 2012 -mispelt racignWe raised

£539.82 for Dyslexia Action. Thanks to everyone who donated. Robert Bleasdale

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2012-13

DEC

19TH NO SWIMMING

26TH NO SWIMMING

NO SWIMMING

JAN

2ND NO SWIMMING

3RD NO SOCIAL

9TH SWIMMING RESUMES

FEB

7TH Social New Age Bowls S M COMMUNITY CENTRE

MARCH

7TH AGM S M COMMUNITY CENTRE

17TH RUGBY GAMES See Chris Brown

Please remember that if you have access to the internet that you can

check the events calendar at www.aadc.co.uk