The club met at Stourbridge Rugby Club on February 18 as usual on the third Tuesday in the month for lunch at 12.30pm.

Before the meeting the committee met to discuss items for the AGM in May, including future officers, menus and social events.

There was a talk by Simon Henwood, the managing director of Mary Stevens Hospice Trading Company.

He spoke about fundraising activities and marketing, with slides showing how the shops had been developed and improved to their present high standard over the last few years, including in Gornal and Stourbridge where they now have a very successful coffee shop and a book shop with over 1,000 books in it. Donations are regularly received from Rotary and Masonic Lodges as well as individual donations from people. All the staff in the shops are volunteers apart from one person per shop each day who is in charge and who is paid. It was a very interesting talk and a donation was made from Probus to the hospice.

The next meeting is on March 18 and the speaker is Russ Peake, who will talk about fire safety in the home. Anyone wanting to join or visit a Probus meeting should contact the secretary on 01384 394442.