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A large group of children and adults are grouped together inside a hall, holding a large banner together reading "Phab". Many are also holding up white certificates, everyone is smiling.

What a Phab Year!

Hi! I’m Dawn Vickers, Co CEO here at Phab, and wow, what an incredible year 2024 turned out to be! Let’s take a whirlwind look back at just some the amazing adventures and unforgettable events that made it so special.

We kicked off the year with a fabulous weekend at Avon Tyrell, the first in our Phab Adventures residential program, with stays at both Avon Tyrell and Bendrigg Lodge. Yes, it was cold and rainy, but let’s be honest—has a little bad weather ever stopped us from having a blast? No way!

A group of young adults and adults are wearing red and blue caving suits, and orange helmets, standing outside the entrance to a cave.
A young adult is sat in a green field, smiling and holding a microphone. They are also pointing behind them towards a small white plane.
An adult wearing a green coat and a child wearing a blue coat and glasses are sitting side by side and smiling.

Then came our very first Phab Adventure Day at the Children’s Animal Farm in Cheshire, where over 70 people joined us for a fun-packed day of activities. The adventure days didn’t stop there! We soared high during Flying Days at Barton and Redhill (thanks to our partners at Freedom In The Air) and hit the slopes for an exciting new Adventure Snow Day with Disability Snowsport UK at the Chill Factore in Manchester.

In March, we launched the brand-new “A Phab Idea” Award in partnership with the brilliant folks at Our Design Agency. This award encouraged Phab Clubs to dream up creative ways to make their clubs even more fabulous—if that’s even possible! The 2024 winner? The Phabulous Café! They walked away with a well-deserved £1,000 prize, donated by Our Design Agency. Huge thanks to the ODA and to everyone who took part – you’re all absolute stars!

Five people are sat down and standing around a wooden sign reading "The Phabulous Cafe" in multicoloured writing. They are all smiling and one person is kicking their leg out.
Large text reads "Phab Idea Winner The Phabulous Cafe" There is a graphic of a confetti cannon in each bottom corner, and confetti across the whole image.

April was London Marathon time! We are so grateful to the hundreds of runners who dedicated their Marathon experience to benefit Phab. We couldn’t do our work without our donors and supporters, and we really can’t thank you enough. Team Phab was there in person of course to cheer and honour the runners – we’re just in awe of you all.

Phab loves a good celebration, and in June, we had the honour of partying with the South Holland Spalding Phab Club for their incredible 40th anniversary. It was such a joyful day filled with dancing, heartfelt speeches, cake (of course!), and even an ice cream van! What a way to celebrate four decades of fabulousness!

A smiling adult and a toddler are kneeling and standing holding up a cardboard cut out frame which reads "Congratulations, you did it!" A "Phab" logo is also in cutout.
Two people are standing at the front of a hall, by a table decorated with white cloth, flowers, and a white and blue cake which reads "Phab" on it. They are both smiling and holding a knife over the cake. You can see people sat on tables behind them.

This set the tone for our summer of fun. We headed to Parallel Windsor in July and hosted the very first Phab Fest! Picture a day full of music, dancing, and pure joy—all during a summer downpour that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. Friends of all ages came together to make it the ultimate Phab Day Out.

Throughout the year, Team Phab also hit the road for the Kidz to Adultz events across the UK. We met hundreds of people who couldn’t wait to hear about Phab Clubs and Phab Adventures. And with support from Team Phab, we’re thrilled that new Phab Clubs were launched in Doncaster, Radlett, Ebbw Vale, and Worthing—hooray! And there are more new Phab Clubs coming onboard in 2025.

A group of children and adults, some wearing white t-shirts reading "Phab", others blue t-shirts reading "Phab", are outside grouped together and smiling, centred around Ellie Simmonds; the paralympic champion.
A group of people smiling are sat together in a theatre with red chairs.

Our Phab Community Network grew bigger and brighter in 2024, welcoming fantastic new members like Wet Wheels, Ark T, Pulp Friction, Ace Anglia, Head2Head Sensory,Nova Sports, The Pieces Project, The Fantastic Freddie Foundation, The Holt, In the Mix Project and the Berkshire Banshees. We can’t wait to dive into the amazing inclusive activities these organisations offer!

Mik and his team at Phab ACTS have been busy all year delivering inclusion and access training, and accessibility audits for esteemed clients including the Chilterns National Landscape, Euan’s Guide and the Savoy Theatre in London!

Three people, two sat in wheelchairs, are smiling with their arms around each other and all wearing blue t-shirts.
Two people are stood arm in arm smiling outside the front of a building reading "Savoy Theatre Mean Girls". The building is shiny and gold.

In October, Chester Phab Club organised an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training day for its members and the wider community, delivered by our very own Mik Scarlet. Everyone said they’d benefitted from learning about the Social Model of Disability. Mik will be on the road visiting more Phab Clubs in 2025.

And how could we forget the grand finale of the year? We ended 2024 in style with our Phab Fun Weekend in Bournemouth—a perfect way to wrap up one of our most memorable years yet.

A group of people are dancing within a hall together, raising their hands in the air together in unison.
A person wearing a shirt and waistcoat is sat in a wheelchair and smiling, whilst behind them are groups of people sat around tables.

Now, we’re all fired up for 2025! We can’t wait to create more magical moments, build new connections, and have even more Phabulous fun together. Here’s to an exciting year ahead!

Dawn Vickers – Phab Co CEO

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