Event Reports
26th August 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 34 Members plus Speaker Richard Butler to the meeting.
Minutes of last Meeting 12th August: received and accepted as a true record of the meeting.
Matters arising:
Gerald mentioned a slight inaccuracy in the information about the Medical Detection Dogs – they took only 2 years to train (not 7 years, as in the Minutes).
Tina Shelton advised Members that she had contacted The North Star about the Formal meal menu, and that the price would be £20.00/person (subsidised by the Club). An information sheet and booking had been sent out to Members, to be filled in and returned with full payment by 30th September at the latest. (At the next meeting would Members please give forms to Gerald in Tina’s absence.)
Any other business: As Tina will (probably) be absent from the next meeting, she asked for an additional person to note down the Minutes, in case Liz Smith (who normally substitutes for Tina) is unavailable; Denise Dunnington volunteered (Liz will be in contact if necessary).
With the Business meeting completed, David handed the meeting over to
Richard Butler to give his presentation about ‘The Children’s Air Ambulance’.
Richard told Members he had been a volunteer for over 2 years; he had responded to an advert for a Community Speaker for the Charity. He said most people had never heard of it until they come across someone fund-raising in a retail establishment, or they have to make use of the service.
The Air Ambulance service is a HEMS – Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, responding to emergency situations. The Children’s Air Ambulance is different in that it transports seriously ill children between medical establishments, or ‘ferries’ medical staff to a child in a hospital.
It is national service, operating across the whole of the UK; it is under the governance of the Midlands Air Ambulance service. There are only 2 helicopters operating nationally, and each flight they make costs around £5.5k.
The service was set up in 2012, with the first flight going from Scarborough hospital to Hull Royal Infirmary. There are only about 28 specialist paediatric units around the country, so CAA transport is extremely beneficial to patients care.
It is used if time is of the essence – flights take about a quarter to a third the time of a journey by road; it is also a much smoother journey than by road, avoiding the bumps and jolts caused by potholes.
Most of the income comes from donations – there is no Government funding, nor any from the NHS. When asked about this after his talk, Richard said that funding would very likely bring many restrictions as to use, whereas just receiving donations and legacies, they are able to keep autonomy over the running of the service.
He gave information as to the types of staff who work for the service. He also told Members of two particular stories of children the service had helped.
At the end of the presentation David told Members of how he had first come across the service, and two other Members had also heard of it, too. Generally, everyone thought it had been an extremely interesting presentation; there were several questions for Richard to answer, and all those present agreed it was a very worthwhile charity that provides (as it turns out) a much needed service.
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12th August 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 27 Members plus two guests (Peter and Madeline Wilson) to the meeting.
Correspondence:
Gerald mentioned an information email from the Medical Detection Dogs charity (who we have booked for a talk next year); they breed their own dogs and one has just had 7 puppies; it takes 7 years and costs £28,000 to train each dog.
David Bannister (one of the older Members) had sent in an email stating that he intends to renew his Membership in October, and hopes to be able to get to some future meetings.
Ron Thompson had sent in an email stating that he and Kate had really enjoyed the Afternoon Tea, and that he will endeavour to get to some meetings. Also, with reference to the Afternoon Tea, there was a “Thank You” from Peter & Sarah Ryalls, who had received a card and a cake for their Anniversary (on the same day!
There was a message from Kathleen Barnet from The Born Free Foundation (and our last speaker) thanking the Club for the generous donation/collection totalling £181. (We were originally going to give a cheque for £45, but many Members thought it the ‘best talk we had heard’ and with it being a very emotional subject it had been suggested to increase the payment to £100.)
Minutes of last Meeting 22nd July: received and taken as an accurate record.
Matters arising:
The Gliding evening was eventually cancelled as less than 10 ‘flyers’ had booked.
Michelle Beadle had been booked to give another talk to the Club in August, but Gerald had received a message stating she was very seriously ill, and would not be able to attend. Gerald sent an email on the Club’s behalf sending our best wishes.
Any other business:
Gerald stated that he had received a message from a gentleman (Richard Butler) offering talks; Gerald contacted him to enquire if he was available for August (as a replacement for Michelle Beadle), and luckily he was. His talk will be about ‘The Children’s Air Ambulance’ - not an emergency service, but one which transports very sick children/medical staff between hospitals.
Our Member Sam Walton has received the prestigious R. H. Mountfield award for services to the Pig Farming Industry (recently announced in The Wolds Weekly).
Gerald has been raising & collecting money for another Cuddle Bed for Saint Catherine’s Hospice, and to be donated in Denise’s name. He has recently been contacted by the Hospice asking if he would be willing to ‘purchase’ an alternative piece of desperately needed equipment to help lift patients, to which he has agreed.
The poll amongst Members for places to visit next Probus year is now ‘out’ and the results are as follows:-
Yorkshire Wildlife Park (see information below)
Eden Camp, near Malton (has a NAAFI onsite) BOOKED
Trinity House TBC
Tour of Hull Old Town (plenty of local eateries) BOOKED
Yorkshire Museum of Farming, Murton (restaurant onsite) BOOKED
Gerald advised Members that to book a coach (as with Cannon Hall Farm) the cost per person (entrance & coach fare) would be £45+ and EVERY seat on the coach MUST be filled to make it viable. Other options: Members car share, making their own way there and just pay entrance fee; OR we cancel this visit and insert choice 6 (Scarborough Fair)from the list instead. The Tina will soon be contacting The North Star for their autumn menu, and details will be sent out to Members in due course.
Stuart Nelson will soon be off on his next long distance walk – in Japan (the oldest in the World). Any donations will be gratefully received, and he intends these to go to Gerald’s Hospice appeal.
Gerald mentioned that a previous Probus Member had given the Club three Probus ties, free to any Member who wanted one – they were all taken by Members.
John Sharman had previously returned a plaque to Gerald, which had been awarded to the Club by East Riding of Yorkshire Council (although no one could remember the reason for this!) It had been suggested, and agreed upon by the Committee, that the plaque should be awarded on an annual basis to a Member who has made a significant contribution to the Club and/or the local Community. Nominations in writing, please, to Gerald (by 1st September, latest), with the presentation being made at our Formal Lunch in October.
After the Business meeting had concluded, there was a fun ‘True or False’ quiz for Members, in groups of 4, to complete. The answers to many questions caused a lot of merriment amongst Members, with one or two raising an eyebrow, but was thoroughly enjoyed by all present!
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22nd July 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: Gareth Shelton was standing in to chair the meeting, and after welcoming the 25 Members attending, he said that he “hoped he hadn’t got too out of practice!” He also welcomed speaker Kathleen Barnett and husband, Chris.
Sick Members: Ron Thompson (Mike Battams mentioned that Ron and his wife, Kate, had enjoyed the recent Afternoon Tea.)
Minutes from last meeting 8th July: accepted as a true record of the meeting.
Matters arising: Gerald Massey mentioned that after Janet Thornton’s talk about the Wellbeing Support Group and asking for a volunteer to help, as Assistant Co-ordinator, Denise Dunnington has contacted the Club and offered herself for this role.
New Members: May Alexander has attended the previous two meetings, as well as joining the Yorkshire Belle evening cruise, and has now submitted an application to join the Probus Club; May was unanimously welcomed into the Club.
Any other business:
GM mentioned that bookings for the forthcoming Gliding Evening were going very slowly, and if there were not enough by the closing date of Weds. 29th July, the event may have to be cancelled (between 10 – 20 ‘fliers’ are needed for Pocklington Gliding Club to run this event). Tina said that she will have to delay co-ordinating a food list with Members for the evening, until it is definite whether or not the Gliding takes place; arrangements will be made, as necessary, and those attending will be contacted those in due course.
GM said there was still time to book tickets for the various theatre trips (12th August final deadline) – Jeeves & Wooster on 10th Sept, ER Theatre, Beverley; Last Night of the Proms (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) on 30th Sept, Hull City Hall; Cats on 21st Oct, Hull New Theatre.
At our meeting on 12th August, Michelle Beadle was due to return to give a talk on ‘The Highwayman’; sadly GM has been informed she is very ill in hospital and, therefore, this has now been cancelled. (However, GM has been able to make a last-minute booking with an alternative speaker for this date.)
With the business meeting at an end, GS handed over to Kathleen Barnett (with technical support from husband Chris)
to present her illustrated talk on the life of Virginia McKenna and the Born Free Foundation.
Kathleen said that she and her husband were supporters of the Foundation, a Charity founded by Virginia and her husband, Bill Travers. Virginia had a very strong belief in the concept of freedom for animals, and was still campaigning today.
She told Members about the early life of Virginia, how she got into acting, meeting and eventually marrying Bill Travers, their work together on a number of films, and how they went on to form the Born Free Foundation, leading to their pioneering work in the care and rehabilitation of captive wild animals. [For more information, if you are interested, go to:bornfree.org.uk]
GS thanked Kathleen for a very interesting and information talk, which he, and some other Members thought may have been the “best we have had at Probus”. Members showed their appreciation with a round of applause.
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8th July 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 39 Members to the meeting, plus guests May Alexander and Martin Millier (who would be assisting with the Quiz, later).
Correspondence: Gerald had an email from Sarah Ryalls about taking care during the very hot weather, as well as being careful with any outside fires and instant barbecues.
Minutes from last meeting 24th June: received and accepted as an accurate record of the meeting.
Matters arising: Gerald mentioned that he had booked a tour of Hull (with Paul Schofield) as one of the events for next Probus year.
Any other business: Gerald mentioned that he had finally received confirmation from Pocklington Gliding Club for the Probus Gliding evening, booked for 5th August (this gives time for an alternative date if weather is not good on the day). He also informed Members that we would be able to use the Gliding Clubhouse for a buffet-style supper afterwards, and asked that those attending bring along food to share; this would be co-ordinated by Tina, but we would need 1 or 2 extra helpers to set the food out on the night – please contact her if you can assist.
David then introduced Janet Thornton to give a short talk about the Club Wellbeing Support Policy, for which she is the Co-ordinator. She introduced herself stating that newer Members may not know who she is, as due to another commitment, she only attends meetings occasionally. She stated that the Wellbeing Support Group is a discreet way for Members to access assistance any time it is needed, for example transport has been used quite a few times to medical appointments; some Members who had used this help added their experience. Janet concluded by adding that it would be helpful to have an assistant for the (few) occasions she may not be available. David thanked her for being the co-ordinator for this service to Members.
With the business meeting concluded, David handed over to
Bill and Marie Strath for their Quiz,
covering a range of different topics.
Afterwards everyone agreed it was an interesting quiz, and was enjoyed by all.
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24th June 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 32 Members plus 1 guest (May Alexander, who joined the Club on the Yorkshire Belle trip.), as well as speaker Paul Schofield to the meeting.
Sick Members: Ron Thompson (Ron & his wife Kate are hoping to come to the Afternoon Tea at Clickham Grange.)
Correspondence:
A reminder from Peter Grant about the Open Garden with refreshments at Driffield Methodist Church on 4th July, at £5.00 pp.
From Sarah Ryalls, information about ‘courier fraud’ which is rife at the moment and is targeting the over 70s. If you receive a strange telephone call, or do not recognise/understand what you are being told – HANG UP straight away, and contact the police for advice.
Minutes from last meeting 10th June: received by Members and accepted as a true record of the Meeting, with no matters arising.
With the business completed, David Woolley handed over to Paul Schofield to present his illustrated talk on
‘The History of Beverley’.
Paul told Members that he gives guided tours around Hull and also Beverley, which include interesting points of local interest. [tourhull.com or just search ‘tours of Hull and Beverley’ through your browser]. There was a lot of information in Paul’s talk; here are just a few highlights:-
Saint John of Beverley – was Bishop of York between 705 to 718 AD. He was born in Harpham and died in Beverley in 721 AD; his fame brought many pilgrims to Beverley.
Beverley had been the 10th most populous town in England during the 16th century; it suffered badly during the Civil War because of skirmishes between the Royalists and Roundheads, however, it later flourished again, then prospered more during the Georgian period.
Beverley Minster – is not a cathedral because the town is not ‘the seat of a bishop’, so it is just a VERY GRAND parish church! [There is a very interesting ‘Roof Tour’ available at the Minster.]
A ‘blue Beverley plaque’ on one property commemorates the life of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) who was a writer and philosopher, and first advocate of Women’s Rights; she was also the mother of Mary Shelley. There are a number of other plaques throughout the town.
David thanked Paul, saying it was a very and enlightening talk, from which he had learned a lot more about Beverley; Members gave a round of applause to show their appreciation.
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10th June 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 27 Members to the meeting. David mentioned he had received an email from Liz Smith, who was reluctantly resigning from the Probus Committee due to the pressure of a number of things happening in her life at present. (She had been co-opted onto the Committee a couple of years ago, initially to assist Tina Shelton with the Minutes and otherwise generally, but was given a more permanent position to assist Gerald after Denise became ill.)
Minutes from last meeting 27th May: accepted as a true record with no matters arising.
Any other business:
The Afternoon Tea at Clickham Grange/Carol Skelton, has been booked for Wednesday 15th July; information will be sent out very shortly.
Gareth Shelton mentioned the Saint Catherine’s Hospice ‘Cake & Coffee Morning’, organised by the Driffield Support Group, and which took place the day before. It had been announced that they had been able to give £30,000+ to the Hospice, which meant that 2 more Cuddle Beds had been ordered, and delivered. They also mentioned that in total, they had been able to raise over £60,000 for Saint Catherine’s Hospice, and thanked the people of Driffield for their generosity in supporting events.
Gerald told Members that he had received an email from Susan Marsahll, with a copy of the recent newsletter from the Nepalese Education Fund (the charity she founded). He had also received a few photos from Susan, showing Rainsu, the Nepalese schoolgirl who Probus sponsor. As he and Tina now have a number of photos and a few video clips, they said that these would be put onto a USB stick to be shown at a future meeting.
Stuart Nelson mentioned the theatre visits which Gerald had been organising, and how good they all were. He also told Members of an upcoming show, ‘Operation Mincemeat’, a story about a ploy used during the Second World War to put off the Germans from discovering where the Allied Invasion would be staged. Tina also mentioned a show in November, in which Prof. Alice Roberts will tell the story of evolution, entitled ‘Cell to Civilisation’. Gerald asked for anyone interested in attending either of these to contact soonest.
There was a lot of discussion about various items, from the Members, and as a result there was not enough time for the scheduled ‘Speed Chatting’ session to take place; this was postponed for future inclusion in another meeting at some point. To fill the remaining time, Gerald gave out one of his quizzes to Members to complete, where all answers were parts of the body.
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27th May 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: John Ford (standing in for David Woolley) welcomed everyone to the meeting, including Speaker Richard Myerscough and his wife, Marion.
Correspondence: Gerald Massey had received a letter from Marion Gamble thanking Probus for her invitation and for the generous donation, which would go to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance; she said £164.60 had been raised. GM has also invited her back next year to give another talk, which she has accepted.
Minutes from last meeting 13th May: these were accepted as a true record of the meeting.
Matters arising: GM mentioned that ‘Probus has more Talent’ went well, and was enjoyed by those present.
Any other business:
GM had received a poster from the Driffield Support Group advertising a ‘Coffee & Cake’ morning to raise funds for Saint Catherine’s Hospice, and asked for names of those who may be interested.
There has been a suggestion from Stuart Nelson to produce a ‘Probus Calendar’ for 2027. The Committee had requested further information from Stuart, which has since been received [a minimum print run would be 500 copies at ~ £300.] David Holman said that in his experience calendars can be ‘difficult’ to sell on because of their being ‘time related’; however, he has found that Christmas cards can be more popular, as they are not time-related. John Ford suggested this be taken back to the Committee for further discussion.
With the business meeting finished, John Ford handed the meeting over to
Richard Myerscough for his talk entitled ‘A FEAST at Flamborough’.
Richard apologised for he and his wife appearing ‘scruffy’, adding that after the meeting they would be travelling to Skipsea to take part in archaeological work in conjunction with the University of York. He explained that FEAST meant Flamborough Exploration and Survey Team, adding that all sorts of mediums were covered, i.e. excavations, fieldwork, surveys, art & music. Anyone interested was welcome to take part – academic qualifications in these areas were not needed, rather just an interest.
He went on to talk about all sorts of things that have been discovered throughout FEAST’s work, stating that their final aim was to produce a book about Flamborough which covered EVERYTHING about the area historically, including folklore. [He also mentioned an App that can be downloaded to phones called ‘What Was There?’ When this is opened and you walk around an area, it tells you what was there from ~1900 onwards!]
John Ford thanked Richard, saying “it was a fascinating talk” and how interesting to learn about the history relating to landscape and the relevance to the Climate Change of present times! Members showed their appreciation with a round of applause.
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13th May 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 37 Members to the meeting.
Correspondence:
Gerald Massey had received a letter from a previous Member, David Wellington, who sent in 3 Probus ties, which he found whilst clearing out his home [the Committee will make a decision as to what should be done with them at their next meeting].
John Sharman had sent an email stating he was pleased the ERYC shield, presented to the Probus Club in late 1990s, would be put to good use. [GM has already sent out an email to Members giving the criteria for the presentation award; nominations can be sent/given to GM in a sealed envelope, please.]
GM received a letter from Driffield Support Group (for Saint Catherine’s Hospice) thanking Probus for their donation; a letter has also been received from Saint Catherine’s Hospice thanking the Club for the generous donation of the proceeds from the ‘Concert for Denise’.
Minutes from last meeting 22nd April: accepted by Members as an accurate record of the Meeting.
Matters arising: The recent trip to Hull New Theatre for a performance of ‘Fawlty Towers’ was very good and the cast members were also good!
Any other business:
Yorkshire Belle Trip: GM has received lots of booking forms so far (50 from Probus Members) and he will now open up the trip to those outside of the Club.
Walking Treasure Hunt with a Fish & Chip Supper: there has been quite a few bookings for this so far; GM reminded Members that the timings have been brought forward an hour due to a clash of bookings at Stuart’s Restaurant [meet outside of Library 1.30pm to start Treasure Hunt at 2.00pm; meet outside Stuart’s Restaurant prior to 4.00pm.
With the formalities out of the way, David Woolley introduced
‘Probus has got more Talent’ with a number of Members volunteering to ‘show off their talent’ to the Club.
Peter Hyde: had a comical poem from the ‘war years’, which was read in his absence by Gerald Massey.
Val Fairhurst: performed a ventriloquist act with her dummy ‘Lucy’ and sang 3 songs as part of it.
Ray Jones & Peter Grant: performed a comedy sketch as ‘two old chaps having a morning chat on a bench in town’.
Stuart Nelson: sang a song called ‘The Parting Glass’ with some audience participation for the final chorus.
Liz Smith: Read three poems – ‘The Pig’, a fishing poem and also one by Pam Ayres.
Gerald Massey: told some ‘amusing tales’ about Probus Members, plus his personal experience of a tale about ‘a Cat, a Pigeon and a Budgie’.
Members enjoyed all these amusing acts, showing their appreciation for each with a round of applause; David Woolley thanked everyone that had participated in the day’s events.
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22nd April 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 28 Members, plus Speaker Marion Gamble to the meeting.
Minutes from last meeting 8th April: Accepted as an accurate record by those present.
Matters arising: David Woolley mentioned Gerald’s ‘Influencer’ talk from the last meeting, in which he recalled an incident at a dance some years previously; a gentleman had collapsed, whilst dancing, and luckily, a lady intervened to give CPR. Gerald had learned, only recently, that the lady in question was our Member, Sue Hyde! David said “there are a lot of ‘good people’ out there, not just locally but in the wider area, and these people give us hope!”
Any other business:
Cannon Hall Farm: GM mentioned that this trip, the previous Wednesday, had turned out to be a ‘really good day’, with nice weather, too!
Upcoming theatre trips: GM asked if anyone was interested in seeing ‘Barnum’ on 2nd June at Hull New Theatre. Also the play by John Godber at East Riding Theatre, Beverley on 30th June.
Marie Strath had been a mannequin, standing in Alec Hall’s shop window, and raising money for charity; she also mentioned that this had raised £210 which she intended to donate toward the present Cuddle Bed Appeal for Saint Catherine’s Hospice.
With the business completed, David Woolley handed over to Marion Gamble for her Antique and Vintage Quiz.
She had brought along a number of somewhat obscure looking items, for everyone to examine and guess the name of the item and what it may have been used for! There were 28 different items, and Members had an interesting time guessing what they were, with some being slightly more obvious that others. However, many of them brought back memories of long ago! Sarah Ryalls and Val Fairhurst managed to correctly guess the name and use for 17 of the items – well done to them!
David thanked Marion for a very interesting, and entertaining quiz. A cheque for £100 was presented to her, which will be donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
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8th April 2026
Chairman’s Welcome: David Woolley welcomed 39 Members plus 1 Guest (his wife Mary Woolley) to the meeting, thanking everyone for attending “on this lovely morning!”
Sick Members: Ron Thompson.
Correspondence:
Chris Renn (speaker from our last meeting) had sent a message to Gerald thanking the Club for the warm welcome shown to him and for the donation which had been gratefully received by the Wolds Hedgehog Group.
GM had received an email from The Nepal Education Fund requesting the education fee of £100 for Rainsu Gurang (the Club’s sponsored Nepalese schoolgirl). [Tina Shelton also mentioned the conversation she had had with Susan Marshall about sending items out to Rainsu; whilst they would be gratefully accepted, the school would prefer things that could be shared amongst the class, e.g. colouring pencils, pens, small reading books – 6-7 yrs, colouring books, etc. She also said that families do not tend to celebrate birthdays because of the poverty within families.]
There was a final mention from GM about Denise’s concert: the Driffield Support Group had sent their thanks for all the donated Raffle/Tombola prizes. There was a total of £4175.50 raised from the concert for which the DSG were so very appreciative. [GM thanked everyone for their support, and has decided to start raising funds for another Cuddle Bed. Stuart Nelson plans to do another long-distance walk later in the year and will donate any money raised. GM said he doesn’t want Probus to be specifically involved raising funds, but should any Members wish to help, he will offer his support. However, when this bed is eventually delivered to the Hospice, he wants it to be designated as “Donated by Driffield Probus Club in Memory of Denise Massey”.]
Minutes from last meeting 25th March: accepted as a true record.
New Members: Mary Woolley was welcomed as a New Member for the Probus Club.
Any other business:
Ray Jones encouraged everyone to offer their support to Stuart with his next endeavour (walking the Japan Buddhist Trail – the World’s oldest long distance walk) , as he had helped Ray in getting home from Manchester Airport recently.
The coach had been paid for, for the visit to Cannon Hall Farm; Pam Woodcock had given permission for Members to park cars in the Rec. Club car park.
Marie Strath was going to do a sponsored ‘Shop Mannikin session’ in the window of outfitters Alec Hall, and had brought in her form for anyone who wished to sponsor her.
With the business meeting finished, David announced that a number of volunteers would be giving a short talk about someone who had influenced their life:- we heard from Gerald Massey, Mike Roberts, Ron Stark, Stuart Nelson, David Woolley and David Holman. Time had run out, and we had not been able to get through all the volunteers, so GM suggested putting this subject on to next year’s agenda. DW thanked everyone who had participated, saying “we get to know each other a little better though things like this!”
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