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Victorian clubs getting a boost

by Tony Thomas, Melbourne Sunrise Probus Club | 26 May 2014

The Victorian Probus movement is in an active phase, with assistance from Rotary sponsors including District 9800 and an upcoming Probus Information Day.

Rotary District 9800 Probus Chairman Peter Milburn is driving the active phase to avoid a trend of clubs folding due to an inability to recruit and fill committee positions.

Three Probus clubs have folded in 2013-14 because of members’ advanced age and unwillingness to take on committee roles: the Canterbury Mens’ and Elsternwick Ladies’ clubs, and the Williamstown Greenwich Bay Ladies’ Club. “Such clubs might have been founded 30 years ago and, without recruitment, that could lead to the majority of members now being in their 90s,” Milburn says.

To help the Probus clubs across Australia avoid being in similar positions as the three Victorian clubs that have closed, Probus South Pacific has launched a strategy of ‘re-birthing’ ageing Probus clubs through Rotary involvement. This involves a Rotary club recognising a Probus club that is expiring and, with the Probus club’s consent, creating a new club alongside with new name and perhaps new venue. The new club attracts new members plus the more active members of the existing club.

“This has not yet occurred in Victoria but has occurred successfully in at least a couple of cases so far in NSW,” Milburn says.

Of course, the first step must be from the Probus club members, who need to let their RDPC know they need help. 

“One problem is that declining Probus clubs may fail to make their plight known to Rotary clubs, and expire before remedies can be launched,” says Milburn. “If we learn a club is in trouble, we have a chance of saving the situation.”

In the past few months, District 9800 initiatives to attract new members have included:

  • Keilor East Rotary Club’s founding of the Keilor East Combined Probus Club, which now has 180 members and meets in the Keilor Hotel.
  • Brimbank Central Rotary Club’s founding of the Taylors Lakes Combined Probus Club, whose 100 members meet at Taylors Lakes Hotel.
  • Glenferrie Rotary Club’s upcoming formation of a new Probus club. Likely to launch in June and be called the Deepdene Probus Club, it will meet in the Church hall at the corner of Mont Albert and Burke Roads, Camberwell.
  • Laverton Pt Cook Rotary Club’s upcoming establishment a Probus club in the Sanctuary Lakes Resort, to meet in the resort’s open-access golf club rooms.

Meanwhile, Rotary and Probus office-bearers are planning an Information Day on strategy and operations in late June for numerous Probus clubs in northern Victoria and southern NSW.

“Clubs near the border are very active,” Milburn says. “For example, in Echuca-Moama there is one Rotary club with about 22 members, but three Probus clubs with a total of 360 members.

“The information day will be coordinated by Probus South Pacific Director Bruce Cameron, also a member of East Keilor Rotary Club and District Liaison for Districts 9780, 9800 and 9810.”

To find out more about the Information Day, contact Peter Milburn.
T: (03) 9801 6180
E: [email protected]

If your club needs help attracting new members, there are plenty of ways PSP and your RDPC can help. Find your RDPC’s contact details here.