Meetings & Speakers

On this page: Guest Speakers, Meeting Location and Times, Annual General Meetings, Committee Meetings

2024 General Meeting Calendar

January No meeting	23 February	22 March (AGM)
26 April	24 May	28 June
26 July	23 August	27 September
25 October	22 November	December Christmas Luncheon

Please advise our Secretary if you are unable to attend a monthly meeting.

NOTE: With respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza still circulating in our community, members are encouraged to continue to exercise caution and follow health department guidelines with regard to social distancing and mask wearing.

Please do not attend a meeting if you are feeling unwell or have any COVID-like symptoms.

Forthcoming Guest Speakers

Here's what's planned for guest speakers at our Club general meetings in the near future ...

(To find out about upcoming activities and outings go to the ‘Activities and Outings’ page.)

David Ratcliffe book

April 26th

David Radcliffe – Markets, Makers and Entrepreneurs

David will discuss the evolution of manufacturing around Port Melbourne, including Fishermans Bend, from the 19th to the mid-20th century.

He will focus on the stories of people who made it happen; their family background, the challenges they faced, and the innovations they made in response to changing markets. David will also reflect on the relevance of this history to the new Fishermans Bend Renewal District.

David is a retired engineer with a love of local history and a member of Port Melbourne Probus. The talk is based on David's new book Making It Here.

Members at lunch

Post-Meeting Club Lunch
This meeting will be followed by a club lunch at The Railway Hotel, 280 Ferrars St, South Melbourne (cnr. Bank St).

To assist with booking arrangements at the hotel, you must book in advance to attend the lunch - unfortunately last minute drop-ins on the day are not allowed. An email will be sent out on the Friday before the meeting inviting you to make lunch bookings (please don't try to book before the email is sent out)

Note that you are welcome to attend the lunch even if you are not coming to the meeting.

General Meetings - Location and Times

Monthly Club General Meetings take place at 10.30am on the fourth Friday of each month, February to November inclusive (however always check the calendar above). Meetings usually finish around 12.45pm

General Meetings are held at the South Melbourne Community Centre, a City of Port Phillip facility, located at 1 Ferrars Place, South Melbourne. (If you are heading east on Park Street, Ferrars Place is the first street on the right immediately after crossing over the St Kilda light rail line).

There is plenty of 2 hour parking in Ferrars Place if you come by car. The venue is also very well served by public transport with a number of tram (routes 1 and 96) and bus (236) stops within 5 to 10 minutes walk.

The meeting format is usually as follows:
10.30-10.55: Coffee and socialising
11.00 sharp - be seated ready for the meeting's commencement
11.00-12.00: Guest speaker and questions/discussion
12.00-12.10: Short break
12.10-12.45: Meeting formalities and new member induction

Members and visitors may not enter the hall until 10:30am and are asked to have their mobile phone switched to silent during the meeting. The hall must be vacated by 1pm.

Annual General Meetings

AGMs occur on the fourth Friday of March (however always check with the calendar grid above), in conjunction with the normal monthly general meeting. The AGM is quite brief, focusing mainly on the nomination/election of the Committee for the following year.

Committee Meetings

These are held on the second Friday of each month, February to November starting at 10:30am. The venue is the Liardet St Community Centre at the corner of Liardet and Nott St in Port Melbourne. Non-Committee members of the Club are welcome to observe at these meetings.