Epsom Phab had a fantastic day on Sunday 13th June. The club were celebrating their 32nd birthday with an event called ‘PhabFest32’. This was the club’s very own festival held at the Linton Centre, Lintons Lane, Epsom. The sun shone and the rain stayed away. It started at 2pm with a chance for all the members to join in the activities provided. There was a 50’ assault course, a bouncy castle, a bouncy bunjee run, giant jenga and crafts. As the members arrived they were each given a ‘PhabFest 32’ t-shirt, featuring the winning design from a competition run at the club. The design was created by George, who had narrowly beaten Ciara in the competition. Plenty of Krispy Kreme donuts and Candy Floss were available.

At 4pm the families of the members arrived. They were entertained by several local bands plus George and his Diablo and the Phab Kids performing dances. First band on were Toxic 6 - band member Fran is a Phab member. They were followed by ‘Hibby and The Untrained Eskimos‘ featuring Rob Farris – who is a volunteer at Phab. The third band was the ever popular ‘Twisted Virtue’ whose singer Alex is a Phab member. Next up was an all Phab band – ‘May Contain Nuts’ who played the full set they had performed in Hyde Park the week before. All four members, Charleyy, Harry, Jordan and Luke are current members of the club. Courtney and Luke, both Phab members, performed an acoustic set and were followed by ‘RockinPaddy’, featuring ex-Phab kids John and Angus. For the Finale, Rob and Luke joined the band on stage for a rousing performance.

The day was made possible by the fantastic team of volunteers, some as young as 12 years old, who had worked for several months to pull the event together. All the planning was done by the youngsters themselves and funded by a Youth Opportunity Fund grant. They discussed ideas and were delighted to see them become reality. They were helped along the planning process by the adult volunteers at the club, who also worked a long day to make sure the event was a success. Epsom Phab is a group for young people with and without disabilities. They provide inclusive activities each Friday evening, plus outings, events and an annual Phab adventure holiday. Further details can be found on www.phab.org.