Barking & Dagenham Plus

Last weekend saw members of Thurrock 18 Plus Group join other 18 Plus members from all over the country at one of the Annual live entertainment holidays at Brean Sands Holiday Park in Somerset. The weekend consisted of 3 nights of partying, with a resident DJ and four live bands. There was also a quiz (which Thurrock couldn’t quite manage to win, despite their outstanding local reputation), competitions (in which Steve won 2 pitchers of beer which everyone had to help him drink), a talent contest (or rather talent-less contest as it turned out), karaoke and a Real Ale trip to pubs in the surrounding area. There were also extensive amusement arcades and leisure facilities like a gym, sauna and swimming pool that members used for free as part of the package. A great time was had by all and Thurrock members are looking forward to the next event.

Upcoming events in the East Anglia Area and Nationally will be the Kings Lynn summer party with BBQ and camp over, “Now Get Out of That 2006”, the “Outdoor Pursuits Weekend” in Cumbria, the Karting and indoor ski-ing weekend in Milton Keynes and the new Annual Surf weekend in Cornwall.

Thurrock 18 Plus is a lively and friendly sports and social organisation for people in the 18 to 35 age range; it is run completely by its members and offers a wide-ranging programme of regular events, often in conjunction with other groups in East Anglia Area. New members are always welcome. Anyone who is interested can contact us…

This weekend, members of Thurrock 18 Plus joined over 150 other Plussers from all over the country for the 18 Plus Spring Holiday at Brean Sands in Somerset. Matt and Joe were in a luxury caravan with members of Barking & Dagenham, Brentwood and Romford. Here are some of their abiding memories of the weekend.

• Friday night at the main venue was a Vicars and Tarts party. By far the best costume was worn by a plusser named Juliette from Lichfield, who quite candidly admitted to your humble blogmaster that she had come as herself.
• Later, after the end of the evening, a number of us trooped back to our caravan for nightcaps and watching the late-night poker. With us was one of our friends, to whom, to spare his embarassment, I shall refer only as “Sherlock”. I offered Sherlock some of my Overproof Rum (75% ABV), saying to him “Mind – that is two or three times the strength of ordinary rum.” Whereupon he promptly poured himself a triple measure!
• Saturday – the day of the Real-Ale Trip (“RAT”). A large number of Plussers got on to two coaches for a day trip into Bristol. I met up with Sherlock, he appeared to be somewhat green around the gills. After we had got on the coach and set off, poor Sherlock felt acutely ill and emptied his stomach contents into a plastic bag. This caused the coach to be stopped one time whilst the bag was disposed of. What a good job that it all went in the bag though, and not on the seat! This incident led to one of the greatest ironies of my time in 18 Plus – listening to Pete Mann of Coventry make fun of someone else for being drunk!
• About ten minutes later, someone else on the same coach was also sick. Furious mutterings about “this coach is cursed” and “vomit comet” could be heard.
• But eventually we arrived in Bristol city centre where we set up camp in a supposedly real-ale pub – which only served one Real-Ale. A lot of people stayed here for lunch and drinking; others wandered around Bristol, in particular to the market. Some just tried to find a place which was showing the football! Given that it was raining I tried to venture out of doors as little as possible.
• About 4pm we set off back on the coaches, but stopping off at a Cider Farm, which was giving out free samples as well as selling Cider and Cider-related products (Cider Brandy, Cider-flavoured cheese, etc). I did not buy anything myself, although I did try the Hot Mulled Cider, which was very nice. Thence back to the camp site.
• Meanwhile, it transpired that our Matt had gone to Dartmoor for the day. Unfortunately, he had hit a stone in the unusually slippery conditions and damaged his radiator. Luckily his insurance meant that he could return to Brean for the rest of the weekend before being taken back to Grays to have the car fixed, but it meant he didn’t get back the Saturday evening until last orders!
• Saturday evening, there was an illusionist, followed by a band was playing. Sherlock was drinking sensibly now. Later (after Matt had arrived), we went off to find a party (there was one being held in the caravan next door to us).
• Sunday, there was Line Dancing, a General Knowledge quiz, Boozy Bingo, Karaoke and talent show. Our team, called King Chunder and His Band of Merry Men, didn’t win the quiz, although we were the only team to know the meaning of Cold Lunch. Steve Browning, on our table, won the top prize in the Boozy Bingo, so we had to help him drink it. The Karaoke was rather short – everyone was spared my sensitive interpretation of “The Irish Rover” – and the talent show mainly consisted of what appeared to be a slug-balancing act.
• Sunday evening, there was another band playing. However the main entertainment was provided by our very own Matt, who proved himself quite a star! Matt was able to trick a member of Romford, whom I shall refer to as “Foggy”, to some railings outside the venue! Matt apparently convinced Foggy that a lady with kinky tastes really fancied him. Foggy was eventually released, but not until everyone had had a good laugh and taken pictures etc.

So all in all a very fun weekend, and my congratulations to Adam Redshaw, Brean Chairman, and his team of helpers: Kirsty, Emma, and Adrian.

This weekend, Thurrock 18 Plus attended the national Spring Break held at Brean Leisure Park in Somerset. Here is a summary of the major events that transpired:

1. Your humble Blogmaster attempted to perform some stunt-riding with a supermarket trolley on the Friday night. However, due to the fact that the trolley was of an inferior design, it proved somewhat unstable and Yours Truly ended up a*** over t** in the supermarket carpark. Cue much hilarity from the other Plussers.
2. Later that Friday night, at the Disco, your humble Blogmaster successfully persuaded a Sexy Girl to strip to her bra and swap t-shirts with him in the middle of the dance hall! Cue much bowing down in worship from the other Plussers.
3. Even later that Friday night, a cuddly toy in the shape of Shrek went missing from the caravan of Lala, the Brean Chairperson. The precise identities of the thieves were never established – but the following morning, three mysterious individuals accosted yours Truly and made him deliver a ransom note to the not-overly-grief-stricken Lala. Lala made a short but noble speech to the effect that she was not prepared to give into their demands. Whereupon the Kidnappers relented and handed Shrek over to your humble Hostage-negotiator to return to Lala, and everyone was happy again.
4. On Saturday, there was line-dancing, a Music Quiz, and Karaoke. YHB sang something by the Beatles. Hang on – that should read “Something”, by the Beatles. Meanwhile, other Plussers enjoyed the sunshine and walking along the seaside. As well as spending an unhealthy amount of time trying to win cuddly toys at the local amusement arcades!
5. On Sunday, there was the Real Ale Trip. This was a bit of a misnomer as there was in fact only one Real Ale being served at the pub at which we arrived (although that one Ale was very good). It was really a chance to go out to Newent for the day to have a Carvery Sunday lunch, and watch a band called “Resurrection”.
6. On Sunday evening, it was a School-themed disco. YHB was very pleased with himself as he won a bottle of Vodka in the Raffle. However, he had been disqualified from a drawing competition for cheating, earlier (he nipped into the “Van Gogh” machine in the Amusement arcade in order to produce his entry!)