Submitted to the PROBUS Global Newsletter, Spring 2022.

WHAT DID WE DO DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC?

Marple is a small town of about 25,000 people located 10 miles south of Manchester in England. This year is the 50th since we were formed and during those years, we have had just under 400 members. Probus was so popular that two clubs formed a few years ago but with falling numbers we merged to form one about 2 years ago. So, when the first stay at home regulations arrived in March 2020, we found ourselves with 92 members but no meetings.

After a few months waiting to see what would happen we decided to start online meetings using Zoom technology. We restarted normal meetings in March 2022 and have learnt quite a lot from the experience.

With members’ average age of 82 we naturally expect to lose members every year and our 92 has now fallen to about 60 with 10 aged over 80. Of the active members we found that 22 had no email address, didn’t use computers and did not use mobile phones. Advertising our twice monthly meetings usually results in 50 opening email messages and zoom attendance in the range 20 to 30. It’s a poor substitute for the social interaction which is what Probus is all about and we certainly don’t see online meetings as anything but a stop gap.

But all UK Clubs, whatever their purpose, we are seeing reduced attendance, and this is quite worrying. Covid is creating a nation of elderly recluses, and this is not good for the nation’s mental health.

Peter W Mount CBE

Chairman Marple and District Probus