St Lawrence Parish Centre & Church                                    Barnwood Arboretum
GLEVUM PROBUS CLUB 
         Club History
Tara (now Hatton Court Hotel)
 

             Background

    
  
In 1976 the two Probus Clubs in Gloucester, Gloucester Probus  and Gloucester
North Probus had long waiting lists to join the clubs
The two clubs decided to hold an exploratory meeting at the Tara Hotel on
November 10th to determine the possibility of forming a third club in the city.
The meeting was chaired by the President of Gloucester Rotary Club with the President
of the Rotary Club of Gloucester North and two other Rotary members.
Gloucester North Probus had three members present while Gloucester Probus had two.
There were 21 individuals  present who wished to form a new club.
Rapidly the meeting changed from being exploratory to becoming a proposition for
the formation of a  new club.
                                  Inaugural Meeting-November 10th 1976
Immediately after the the vote to form a new club, Rotary club & other Probus Club
members retired from the meeting.
The following posts were voted:Chairman and Secretary
The new club to be called The Glevum Probus Club
 The club should meet on Wednesdays at the Tara Hotel at 10.30 am

The subscription should be £1.50 per annum

The membership should not exceed 30.

The Club Constitution

The Constitution of the club remains basically the same as today with changes reflecting the

change in membership.The main difference is that Glevum have never had formal minutes of

 their meetings.The original constitution reflected the links with Rotary as the Presidents of

 the Rotary Clubs of Gloucester and Gloucester North were made Honorary members during

their year of office.

                                   First Meeting Tara Hotel November 17th 1976

Twenty members with two guests present and one apology.The first full committee was elected. Besides the Chairman & Secretary a vice-Chairman, Hon.Treasurer, Speakers' Finder

(now Speakers' Secretary) and Hon. Auditor and two Committee members -the latter with

 unspecified responsibilities.

A member of Gloucester North Probus offered to give the opening talk the following week.

                                                 Membership January 1977

By January of 1977 the membership had reached its limit
  First Group Photograph
Committee members are in the front row.
The gentleman at the rear is 6ft 8ins Tall!
  First AGM November 1977
At some point in 1977 the membership level had increased to 35 but it was decided that instead of increasing the membership, the club should check out the situation with the other Probus Clubs
in Gloucester.
 Second AGM December 1978
The membership level was at its full 35. Three significant decisions were made:
1. Increase membership to 40.The club already had 5 prospective members
2. Quadruple membership fees to £6.00. Members also to pay separately for their coffee at meetings.
3. Move the venue of the meeting to the Hucclecote Community Centre. This was unanimously agreed.
                                                    Hucclecote Community Centre


The club utilised the Hucclecote Community Centre for 30 years.

With the link between Rotary and Probus being broken during this period- on reaching retirement age Rotarians did not have to leave and join Probus- the membership numbers of all Probus clubs gradually reduced.

 Glevum changed their frequency of meeting from weekly to twice a month- this is still miantained.

During 2007 the Club had to vacate the Hucclecote Community Centre because of the need for refurbishment.

Barnwood Reading Room

During the refurbushment Glevum Probus moved to the Barnwood reading Room.

St Lawrence Parish Centre

The Club moved in 2008 from the Hucclecote Community centre to the St Lawrence  Parish Centre.
The club is still based there.
                                                    Possible Amalgamation in 2010
After the link with Rotary  was broken, membership of Probus Clubs decreased slightly.
Glevum was asked if they would like to join up with Gloucester North: the latter had financial difficulties.
At the same time Gloucester Probus, meeting at the Farmers Arms,  was also in trouble and
decided to join up with Gloucester North undefr the latter's name.
Glevum remained independent and membership has grown since the low of about 20 in 2010.