Lunches & Speakers
From the beginning, the constitution adopted monthly luncheon meetings at its heart. We have always followed lunch with a speaker. We have two special events to which partners and guests are invited, the President’s Annual Dinner and the Ladies’ Christmas Luncheon.
Historically, the Christmas Luncheon has catered for slightly more in attendance than the Annual Dinner. Throughout the 1980’s, for example, attendances were on average 107 for the Annual Dinner and 130 for the Christmas Luncheon versus averages of 90 and 107 respectively in recent years. There have been changing trends. For the first 25 years the events usually made a small profit. For a 15 year period from the mid 1990’s to 2010, events were often significantly subsidised usually resulting in a loss of a few hundred pounds.
Whilst the programme of outings is a very popular feature of our Probus Club, the ‘Dining Experience’ remains at the heart of the club. The focus has always been on friendship and fellowship. Our aim has been to provide an environment where we can meet regularly and socialise, have a good lunch and enjoy an entertaining speaker.
Over the years, the club meeting has been hosted at six venues, namely the Cambridge Arms in Camberley, Frimley Hall Hotel, Hawley Hotel in Blackwater, Lakeside at Frimley Green, Pine Ridge Golf Club, which hosted us for a quarter century during which time we celebrated our 50th anniversary, before moving on to our current venue at Windlesham Golf Club.
This is your club and your constructive feedback is always welcome. If we don’t always achieve our goals please tell us how things might be improved. Better still, why not look towards joining the committee and make a difference.
Please check the Noticeboard for upcoming speaker titles together with entertainment and other events.
Previous speaker titles
| 2nd March 2022 The History of Royal Flying by Graham Laurie |
| 2nd February 2022 Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Geoff Baier |
| 3rd November 2021 The Railways of Switzerland Stephen Bishop |
| 6th October 2021 Wycombe’s Contribution to Aviation Dave Scott |
| 4th August 2021 Bat Boat to Red Arrows [Zoom] David Hassard |
| 2nd June 2021 Scams and How to Avoid Them [Zoom] Brad Ashton |
| 12th May 2021 The Job of a Laughtime [Zoom] Brad Ashton |
| 7th April 2021 The Mind of a Gambler [Zoom] Paul Isherwood |
| 3rd March 2021 Zeppelin – Ship of Dreams [Zoom] David Skillen |
| 3rd February 2021 The Work of English Heritage [Zoom] Sam Stones, EH Property Curator/South |
| 6th January 2021 HIdden Wonders of the Night Sky [Zoom] Dr Lilian Hobbs |
| July 2020 Great (British) foods to build you natural resistance [link to GB nutrition guide] Lucy Williamson |
| 4th March 2020 Who has done more for Health; the Doctor, the Scientist or the Engineer? Professor David Perrett |
| 5th February 2020 Berlin – The Tale of an Extraordinary City, 1931-89 Alan Grace |
| 8th January 2020 From Moscow to Milk of Magnesia, Her Life in the Foreign Office Sheila Bevan |
| 6th November 2019 Greenland Alan Boyd |
| 2nd October 2019 Apollo 13, Disastrous Mission or Engineering Triumph? Phil Whitemore |
| 4th September 2019 The Jupiter Icy Missions Explorer Dr Adam Masters |
| 7th August 2019 The Work of the Government Chemist Dr Kirstin Gray |
| 3rd July 2019 Clandon Park Restoration Janet Hughes |
| 5th June 2019 Lasting Power of Attorney Made Simple Jackie Lucas |