Probus
The Long and the Short of it!
L to R: Bill Simons and Peter Perkins
You know, I can't help thinking last night's meeting was a happy accident! Whilst it was unfortunate the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam was ill and couldn't address our club, Peter Perkins stepping up to fill the void culminated in a light-hearted and entertaining evening much enjoyed by all. And, to boot, many of us learned something about Probus along the way.
After giving us a little background on his involvement in Probus history, Peter then outlined the club's history since its inception in the UK in 1966 by two English Rotarians, Fred Carnhill and Harold Blanchard. Probus is a fellowship club for retired PROfessionals and BUSinessmen, hence the name.
Ten years later the first Australian Probus club kicked off in Hunters Hill NSW. For the next 20 years growth in Probus was spectacular with 1,875 clubs across Australia and New Zealand and an additional eight being added per month. In 1982 the first Probus club for women commenced breaking the tradition of all male, single gender, clubs. At its peak Probus Australia boasted a membership of 188,000.
However, recently the story hasn't been so rosy with a 30% decline in membership, to about 125,000 Probians. Significant numbers of long-standing and well-established clubs are in decline due to membership being affected by age, attrition and lifestyle.
Peter reminded us all that Probus is still regarded as a Rotary project with its headquarters in Parramatta NSW, in close proximity to Rotary Australia's headquarters.
Peter also lamented the fact that most Probus members are unaware of the Rotary relationship and it became obvious during question time that there were quite a number of Rotarians also unaware of the connection and exactly what Probus does.
Peter finished with postulating that if Rotary clubs sought to open new Probus clubs and maintain the relationship that it would benefit both, especially regarding the painful and ongoing issue with diminishing membership in Rotary. He asked; "Why not combine both memberships and have joint meetings? What has Rotary got to lose?"
The evening finished with a highly charged and entertaining discussion session. As I opened, a happy accident!
