CONTACT - who to speak to + where we meet

We do not have an 'office' so anyone wanting to contact the Club is advised to contact the Committee Member who is thought most likely to be relevant to the relevant matter.

The Club's present Constitution was adopted at the AGM on 24th October 2017 following a review of the original Constitution (dated 2003) that was made to ensure that the broadening of the range of the Club's activities over the years is covered properly. The Constitution includes the following: "The affairs of the club shall be managed by a committee. The Committee shall comprise the Club’s Officers and such other Members as may be agreed by the Members. The Officers of the Club shall be a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, two Visits Secretaries, and such other officials as may be agreed by the Members. Appointments to the Committee are subject to approval at an AGM or SGM. The President will be elected from the existing Committee members, and on retirement may be a member ex-officio for a period of two years. The position of Vice President will be filled by a Member willing to offer himself for election as the next President. All positions will be honorary and will be for a period of up to two years duration. Members wishing to stand for election may do so."

AGMs are normally held at the beginning of the October Monthly Meeting. Some of the Committee positions have been held for many years but the positions of President and Vice-President are normally held for no more than 2 years. It is custom that the incoming President will appoint the next Vice President (subject, of course, to the Club's approval) and that the Vice President will become the next President. The current 3-year Presidency commenced at the AGM in October 2021.

The Committee has adopted 'Procedures' that will be made available to any Club Member who wishes to see them. It covers such matters as the identification (in general terms) of the roles & responsibilities of the Committee Members (none of which is exceptional) and summarisation of the Club's banking and accounting arrangements. Those procedures were first formally brought to the attention of Members at the AGM in October 2017 following a consultation period in which Members were invited to offer comments on a draft. It is a responsibility of the President to advise Members of any significant changes to the procedures. This was last done in March 2019 when the Club's previous constraints on its banking arrangements were relaxed to permit use of Club debit cards and online banking.

'Roll of Honour'
Past Presidents: Edward Cadman, Richard Denyer, Alan Lavers, Rob Ffoulkes-Jones, Ray Harris, Fred Belcher, Eric Locke, Peter Rostron, Trefor Edwards, Graham Haines.

Others whose contributions to the Club merit particular recognition & thanks include the following (with apologies to anyone who has not been mentioned but should be): Mark Ponting (Initiator & Co-Founder, Club Secretary for many years), Ray Harris (Visits Secretary for many years), Martin Foster (Treasurer for many years), David Bond (Club Secretary for many years), George Green (Treasurer for several years), John Hooke (Visits Secretary for several years) & Chris Bray (Visits Secretary for several years).

Visits Secretaries
It is thought that our Club is one of the most active Probus clubs in the country, thanks not least to the number of Outings each year. Information on forthcoming events is given on the Notices page whilst a record of previous events is given on the Archive page. The Visits Secretaries are responsible for arranging most of the Club's activities. At present, the lead arrangers for the main types of activity are as follows:
- for Outings, Ladies Night/Tea & Skittles : David Mills.
- for Lunch Club & BBQ : Peter Barns-Graham.
However, the 2 Visits Secretaries try to support and stand in for each other whenever needed.

Web site and E-mail policy
It is the Club's (informal) policy that no Member should be obliged to have access to the Internet in general or to either e-mail facilities or this web site in particular. Accordingly, it is intended to keep making information available to Members through 'traditional means' (mainly discussing issues and handing out papers at Monthly Meetings). However, to make it easier to distribute or obtain information, it is hoped that existing Members who have Internet & e-mail facilities do make use of them, that incoming Members will have such facilities, and that those existing Members who do not have such facilities will at least think about getting them!
[Please note that our commitment to continue to make information about our activities available to Members via 'traditional means' relates to the level of information that was provided in the past (i.e. as was being provided in 2016 and earlier years). That does not stop us from providing additional information, more than what was provided in the past, through this web site.]

See here for the Webmaster's Page which may be used from time to time for any notices regarding this web site and any e-mail facilities that the Club may provide.

Technical Support for Speakers
Pages entitled Speakers and Technical Support for Speakers have been prepared to support Members when it becomes their turn to be Speaker's Friend.

LOCATION

Over the years the Club has had a number of places for our Monthly Meetings. The first was The Neville Arms in Abbeydore after which, after a month at The Kilpeck Inn, was the Galanthus Galley & Cafe in Wormbridge and then The Memorial Hall in Ewyas Harold. From April 2015 to February 2019 we met in the Functions Rooms (upstairs) at The Temple Bar Inn in Ewyas Harold. The meetings from March 2019 to June 2021 (inclusive) were cancelled because of the covid-19 pandemic. They recommenced in July 2021, meeting that month and the next 2 months in the Ewyas Harold Memorial Hall. In October 2021 we moved back to The Temple Bar Inn (Ewyas Harold HR2 0EU) but that became unavailable from January 2023. We moved back to the Ewyas Harold Memorial Hall, initially on a temporary basis but that became our permanent venue, again.

Directions for forthcoming Outings and Special Events are given on (or made available through) the Notices page.