I have to admit that,I had never heard of Probus until recently. Not until my good friend Basil Strickland pointed me in the right direction and told me they would be a good target for my fund-raising talks about Vic's Big Walk.
Probus clubs are for retired or semi-retired business or professional people who, in retirement, appreciate and value opportunities to meet others in similar circumstances and with similar interests.
I am such a retired business person so I am surprised that I did not know of them before. It seems they started in 1965 so maybe I can blame the fact that I have lived overseas for much of that period.
Anyway, as soon as Basil told me about Probus, I included them in my marketing program. I found that they have regular meetings, once or twice a month, and that they frequently have a guest speaker at the meetings. So far, so good. Then I discovered that the Probus clubs I was contacting, like the WI, frequently have their speaker program mapped out for more than a year in advance.
This was a little disheartening, but I plugged on. Not only is mine a long-term project, having set my fundraising targets for my 80th birthday in 2020, but I began to emphasise that I can do my talk at the drop of a hat. As we all know, stuff happens, and speakers can fall by the wayside or be unavailable at equally short notice.
On that basis I have had a good response from some of the clubs and made a bit of a breakthrough this week. One of the clubs I approached now wants to talk to me in detail about my talk, And another Probus club, which I had not even contacted, rang me and arranged a talk on the spot, for March.
I know you have suggestions for talk or signing venues. No matter how crazy, let me know. I will talk to anybody. Or, if you want a signed copy of one of my books in return for a donation, or to contact me for any other reason, email me on:
victalksthewalk@gmail.com
Don't be shy. No venue is too small or too large. We have a disease to beat here.
If all other ideas fail you, why, you could just go to the "Donate" button on this page and send your money to the cause.
Follow me on Twitter:
@VicTalksTheWalk
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