Submitted to the PROBUS Global Newsletter, Spring 2022.

PROBUS73 is based in Portishead, a rapidly growing town of some 25,000 souls, located on the shores of the Severn Estuary a few miles southwest of Bristol. The name 'Portishead' derives from 'the port at the head of the river' and the town's history can be traced back to Roman times.

Probus73 was enjoying a great deal of success when Covid reared its ugly head in 2020. It was not too long before UK Government rules began to bite and we were forced to suspend our activities when the small, privately owned social club where we held our monthly meetings was forced to close. At that time very few of us realised the seriousness of the situation and we could have no idea of what lay ahead.

As the months rolled by we gradually came to understand just what an awful disease Covid 19 was and we began to come to terms with the fact that we were unlikely to meet as a group again in the near future.

We invested in a full licence for Zoom and held some meetings and quizzes online which proved quite successful and at least achieved the objective of keeping the membership in touch with each other, although it does have to be said that the age group of our membership clearly discouraged quite a few from joining in!

A relaxation of the rules enabled us to have an AGM which was kept very brief ! The major outcome of this AGM was to agree that the current Club Officers retain their roles until such time as the club was able to resume normal business.

It was also suggested that we try to take advantage of the rules relaxation and try to get our members back together. Our meeting venue was not in a position to provide our normal full catering so we decided to offer a ”Bacon Butty” event which turned out to be hugely popular. We also opened up the attendance to include wives/partners. This was very well supported – so much so that we did it again a few months later!

Eventually in September 2021 we were able to hold our first 'proper' meeting into which we cunningly inserted an AGM which lasted all of 8 minutes ! Previous experience had taught us that any advance mention of an AGM was a guaranteed way to keep the attendance low! Our little subterfuge seemed to work and we had a reasonable number attending. Happily subsequent meetings have seen an increase in numbers and the club is now at a very healthy level.

One thing which has emerged from the last two years of disruption is just how much our members enjoyed the companionship provided by our regular monthly meetings and how much they missed it when it was not available.

It has become clear that with an inevitably elderly membership profile it is essential that we maintain our recruitment efforts, so Probus73 is trying very hard to publicise the club – local publications, the public notice boards dotted around the town, social media and possibly most important of all is word of mouth.

Mike Watts

Publicity Officer - Probus73