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 nine years since RCM launched Melbourne Sunrise Probus in 2011. That club now has about 120 members.
Probus Clubs are for active retirees who want to extend their friendship and activities networks and enjoy stimulating monthly speakers.
The number of retiree residents in the CBD, Southbank and Docklands are surging. 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.
The city’s older “tower dwellers” have no historic community. They include many seniors downsizing from the suburbs or country, and some have lost their partner.
Bearbrass is enthusiastically backed by Probus headquarters in Sydney. Monthly meetings following the Feb 12 launch will be at the Dock Library at 10am on second Tuesdays of the month, from March.
Bearbrass members can come from Melbourne city and further out. “Bearbrass” was a suggested name for the settlement that became “Melbourne”.
Website probussouthpacific.org/microsites/melbournebearbrass
Item by: Tony Thomas
