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‘PROBUS CLUB LAUNCH FOR MELBOURNE CITY’

Article by Tony Thomas, Rotary Central Melbourne

Rotary Central Melbourne (RCM) is launching Melbourne Bearbrass Probus at the Dock Library,
Docklands, at 10am-noon on Wednesday February 12.

It’s the first Probus Club launched within District 9800 since Carlton Gardens in 2016. It’s also the first

new Probus for inner-Melbourne since RCM launched Melbourne Sunrise Probus in 2011. That club is
now full with about 120 members.

(In case you’re wondering, “Bearbrass” was a suggested name for the settlement that became “Melbourne”).

Bearbrass is enthusiastically backed by Probus headquarters in Sydney, which coordinates more than 1,500
Australasian clubs with 125,000 members. Probus headquarters is paying for marketing including display ads in

local city newspapers. Robert Renshaw of Glen Waverley Rotary is lending his substantial expertise and will manage
the launch meeting. Robert has launched eight Probus clubs in the past three years and currently is helping five

potential Probus Clubs get started.

Probus Clubs are for active retirees who want to extend their friendship networks and enjoy stimulating monthly
speakers. interest groups include dinners, theatre, films, arts, sports, books, walks, and local and overseas

expeditions.

Probus dues are typically only $60 a year. Probus Clubs can only be started by a Rotary Club and they are for
members’ enjoyment -- charity fund-raising in not allowed.

The number of retiree residents in Melbourne’s CBD, Southbank and Docklands has surged since 2011. Overall,
seniors aged 50-74 in CBD, Docklands and Southbank increased 14% from 2016 to 2019, and now total nearly

11,000. The city forecasts their numbers will surge another 25% to 13,500 in 2022.

There is a particular need for networking via Probus because the “tower dwellers” have no historic community. They
include many seniors downsizing from the suburbs or country, and some have lost their partner.

RCM was fortunate to secure the city council’s Dock Library as the club’s venue, with its state-of-the-art auditorium

and subsidised pricing to community groups.
Inquiries: rren2422@bigpond.net.au or tthomas061@gmail.com.

‘2020-21 PRESIDENTIAL THEME’

Rotary International President-elect Holger Knaack is encouraging Rotarians to seize the many opportunities
Rotary offers to enrich their lives and the communities they serve.

Knaack, a member of the Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany, revealed the 2020-21 presidential
th eme, Rotary Opens Opportunities, to incoming district governors at the Rotary International Assembly in
San Diego, California, USA, on 20 January.

SHARE YOUR CLUB OR DISTRICT SERVICE PROJECT AND MEMBERSHIP BEST PRACTICES.

We would like to hear from Clubs or Districts telling us what they have done. Please include a summary,

contact details, a couple of captioned photos, and email to Issa Shalhoub, this Newsletter’s editor.
We also would like readers to share their experiences and stories on Best Practices in their Clubs and what has

worked for their Clubs in gaining new members and also what has helped in keeping members.

Rotary on the Move February 2020 Page 7