The Rotary Club of Cardiff, under the leadership of President John Vilks and Secretary Tony Dine, convened a meeting at Cardiff RSL Club on 25th November 1985 with the view to establishing a Probus Club within its District. Invitations had been sent out on 11th November just two weeks prior to the anticipated launch of a Probus Club, Cardiff.
Records indicate that at least twelve local and eligible prospective members responded to the invitation as well as representatives of neighbouring Probus Clubs of Newcastle, Toronto and Warners Bay. After addresses covering the history of the Probus movement the following resolutions were and adopted:
1. Les Taylor and Les Johnstone moved that a Probus Club be formed at Cardiff.
2. Doug Arnold and George Samuels moved that Foundation Membership be left open until February 1986.
3. Les Johnstone and Arthur Walley moved that the Constitution as presented be adopted.
It was also moved that meetings be held at Cardiff RSL Club on the first Monday of each month commencing with the next meeting on 6th January 1986 between 10.00am and 12 Noon.
The Foundation Board was;
President: Les Taylor
Vice President: Roy Hobson
Secretary: Les Johnstone
Treasurer: Bill Drake
Program Director: Norm Thompson
Social Director: Ted Ikin
Foundation Members are believed to have been: Doug Arnold, Norm Borger, Ron Botha, Bill Drake, Tom Howe, Roy Hobson, Ted Ikin, Les Johnstone, Jim Kelly-Jones, George Samuels, Colin Slee, Les Taylor, Norm Thompson, Clyde Wilkie and Arthur Walley.
The Probus Club of Cardiff carried on with a membership of between 17 and 5 with an addition of 6 Lady Associates until 1988 when at the General Meeting it was passed that Ladies be granted Honorary Membership. The Honorary Membership was classified as Lady Associate and conferred on the ladies discussional rights but not voting rights nor election to any office. The initial Lady Associates were: Joan Johnstone, Betty Arnold, Betty Ikin, Reta Borger, Wilma Botha, Wyn Puckeridge, June Drake and Joan Walley.
From then until 1999 the Probus Club of Cardiff struggled until, inevitably, reluctant steps were taken to creating a combined Probus Club to include men and women as equal members. The initial discussions took place at the Annual Meeting in March 1999 and a subsequent Management Committee meeting later that month voted that, "we should stay as we are at present".
A new member, Kel Booth, was elected President in March 2000, and, in April ,again broached the subject of a "mixed club" in the hope of becoming more viable with an increased membership. The matter was raised again at the Executive Meeting later that month and the resultant decision was to recommend that the Probus Club of Cardiff become a combined club of both men and women members. The May meeting raised a Notice of Motion that the Probus Club of Cardiff becomes a mixed club from the first Monday in June. This was carried unanimously at the General Meeting held 5th June 2000. The duly elected Management Committee of the Combined Probus Club of Cardiff was;
President: Kel Booth
Secretary: Innes Wild
Treasurer: Bill Drake
Publicity & Membership: Eric Brockbank
Since inauguration as the Probus Club of Cardiff, the Combined Probus Club of Cardiff Inc has gone from strength to strength and has a healthy membership. There is a number of groups within the Combined Probus Club of Cardiff Inc that have their own particular interests and are well supported. With such a high membership, it is not always possible to provide one activity to suit all members so the individual groups certainly keep all members interested in the club as a whole. The different activities can be seen by using the Navigation Bar on the left hand side of this page.