Henley Men’s Probus held it’s 517th meeting at Badgemore Golf Club on Tuesday, 13 January 2026. The meeting was opened by Chairman Tony Cobb who wished all the members a very Happy New Year. Tony explained that the club outing to the Mill at Sonning to see My Fair Lady had been very successful and was enjoyed by all who attended.
The club’s Summer Lunch has been booked for 22 July 2026 at Sonning Golf Club and there will be another breakfast gathering scheduled for some time in February with the date to be advised.
Club member, Mark Broomfield gave the members a fascinating illustrated talk during which he told us about his 14 years with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ITRC). Mark began his presentation by explaining that the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement were initially started in 1863 in Switzerland by Swiss businessman who had seen the horrors of war at a battle in 1859.
The movement is based in Geneva and is responsible for the beginnings of the Geneva Convention. Mark stated that the ITRC is a private independent
humanitarian organisation whose mission includes building respect for international law, health and hospitals and weapon contamination among others. It’s mostly funded by governments and acts as a neutral intermediary. There are 191 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies which encompass nearly every country on the globe.
Mark also explained about the International Federation of the Red Cross which is more of a disaster management organisation whereas the ICRC
deals more in war zones and areas of conflict. Mark told us that he joined the ICRC with a background in university lecturing in the field of prosthetics.
In his 14 years with the ICRC he served in numerous locations to include Afghanistan, where he spent 5 years, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Gaza, where he spent a year, Sudan and North Korea, where he spent two years. In all those areas he was working to train up local personnel in the skills required to produce and fit artificial limbs many of which were fitted to personnel, adults and children, who had lost limbs as a result of conflicts.
Mark highlighted his talk with a most interesting set of photographs taken in many to the remote areas where he was working over the years. He explained a good deal about the lives that the people lead in many of the countries and how he and his colleagues interacted with the local population and with the governments of the various countries that they were supporting. His insights into each of the diverse cultures was extremely interesting and enlightening.