Probus Global Newsletter Spring 2022

A response to questions sent by Richard Furlong, President of PROBUS Global from the Probus  Club of Innerleithen, Walkerburn and Traquair, in the Scottish Borders.  

Theme: How well has your Probus Club survived COVID and what next?  

What outstanding thing/s has/have your club done to keep your PROBUS club ‘alive’ during  COVID?  

At the start of the 2020-2021 season our club, like many others, conducted all our meetings on  Zoom. We were in the fortunate position that one of our Committee members was able to act as host  for these meetings, as he already had experience with the system by hosting church services. Our  Secretary also kept all club members up to date by sending them information about upcoming talks/ presentations and forwarding the minutes of Committee meetings. This maintained a link with  members who did not choose to attend Zoom meetings.  

What should the Club do when it can meet ‘normally’ again?  

We have now returned to our normal venue in Innerleithen, following the Scottish Government’s  guidance for such gatherings e. g. wearing masks until seated, keeping windows open, avoiding  areas that might act as ‘bottlenecks’ and asking members to bring their own cups for coffee.  

What are the future challenges for your Probus Club?  

The central challenge that we face is increasing the membership. Our Club is already open to all  retired people in the area. Before the Covid lock-down we had 56 members but at the moment the  number is down to 36. Ideas which we have acted on/discussed include: (1) encouraging members  to invite friends to a ‘taster’ meeting to give them a chance to experience the high quality of talks/ presentations that we have. This was carried out in February with a topic that we thought would be  popular with people: ‘Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels’. It did attract some new faces but there are  no new members confirmed to date. (2) In September we will send out information about the Club  in the local U3A newsletter. This is a relatively large organisation which may well provide a likely  source of new members. (3) A poster is being prepared to display on notice boards in local  organisations such as bowling clubs. This will also be ready later in the summer, in advance of the  new Probus season starting in October. (4) We continue to send a report on our meetings to the local  newspaper. This helps to keep alive an awareness of the Club’s activities in the local community.  

Douglas Gray

Hon Sec

Probus Club of Innerleithen, Walkerburn and Traquair  

09/03/2022