This article originally appeared in “Seniority” (Autumn 2024) — Age Concern Wellington Region
One way of staying connected as you gain in age and experience is to join one of the many social clubs established to exercise the mind and soul. The main ones are Probus, Rebus, Friendship Clubs, U3A, and probably many more. Each of them has monthly or even more frequent meetings and annual membership fees are relatively modest.
There is more to these clubs than meets the eye. At first sight, they would just seem to be an excuse for people to get together once a month and listen to some noble person warble on about their area of expertise, which may, or may not, generate some questions from the audience. And there may be a cup of tea and a bit of a chin-wag afterwards. That was my impression when asked to join the newly formed local Probus Club a few years ago.
Wikipedia describes Probus as “a local, national, and international association of retired people who come together in non-political, non-sectarian, non-profit, autonomous clubs which provide regular opportunities for members to meet others in similar circumstances, with similar levels of interest, make new friends, and maintain and expand their interests.
One feature of the Clubs is to have a member of the Club give a five-minute talk about themselves or a topic of interest to them, which is also a means of getting to know some of them. In our club we have heard about travels in the Arctic, construction and flying model planes, collection of first edition LP records, books written, as well as brief autobiographies and/or family histories. Everyone has an interesting story to tell, if only you can get them to stand up in front of the crowd. There is one rule which requires people to avoid speaking about politics or religion. One speaker talked about the American elections and was criticised for raising political issues as there was some support for each of the parties and their presidential candidates.
But that is just the beginning of the story. Once we got under way the club started expanding its membership and its range of activities beginning with the usual book group, which met monthly and then a weekly walking group. Very soon it was all on. We had monthly Dinner, Lunch, Cinema, Circa, Day Trips and, Social Issues groups, plus weekly Petanque, Coffee/Tea and Happy Hour groups. The range extended with out-of-town group travel to various parts of the country.
At the peak, we had 160 members and all these activities meant that in one way or another, we were thrown together and got to know each other and their likes, dislikes, fancies, and foibles. So, it was not just monthly meetings.
As the editor of the Wellington Central Probus Club newsletter, I joined with other Probus Club editors in the Wellington region to exchange newsletters and other information. We also decided that Rebus and Friendship clubs should be included in the exchanges. There are about 20 such organisations in the greater Wellington region. That is when we found that the range of interests and activities covers just about anything you can imagine. There are groups with an interest in wine appreciation, cooking/baking for men, digital technology, gardening, travel, Cryptic crosswords, and even Quiddler (whatever that is).
If that is not enough there is U3A or University of the Third Age which Wikipedia describes as “an international movement whose aims are the education and stimulation of mainly retired members of the community — those in their third ‘age’ of life. There is no universally accepted model for the U3A. Its original conception in France as an extramural university activity was significantly modified in the United Kingdom where it was recognised that most people of retirement age have something to contribute and the emphasis has been on sharing, without formal educational links.”
Checking the interest groups on the U3A Wellington site (https://u3awellingtoncity.org.nz/study-groups/) opens up another level of interests for older people to choose from. In addition to some similar to those above, they include Health, Music Appreciation, Philosophy, Shakespeare Studies, and German and Te Reo conversation groups.
The essence of all these groups is the opportunity they provide to get together with others who have similar interests. But when any group of older, wiser people get together to discuss a particular subject, they will invariably extend their discussions beyond the chosen topic. It is the same with any gathering for physical activity: our petanque group meets twice a week to play sometimes fiercely competitive games, but that is just the perfect excuse to go to the local pub to sort out the woes of the world. One thing leads to another. So, joining one of these organisations is worth considering if you have time on your hands.
WorkinWords 