Crocus Planting at Hyde Hall 9th October 2016

Purple4Polio ROTARY has been working hard to eradicate polio – a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease – across the globe since 1985.

Since then polio, which mainly affects children under the age of five, has been eradicated from all but two countries - Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Rotary has helped immunise 2.5 billion children globally since 1985 and cases of polio across the globe have reduced by 99.9 per cent, from 350,000 cases in 1988 to just 74 in 2015.

Polio could be just the second human disease to be eradicated worldwide in history, but while we are closer than we have ever been before to eradicating polio, the job must be finished.

Although many countries are no longer polio-endemic, they are still at risk of the disease returning, making continued immunisation programmes vitally important. Failure to eradicate polio could result in as many as 200,000 new cases worldwide every year within a decade. That is why Rotarians, governments, nongovernmental organisations and the public are working together to raise the additional $1.5 billion needed to eradicate polio for good. Rotary believes that together we can beat polio.

On Sunday, October 9, members, family, friends and helpers of the Rotary club of Wickford joined Chelmsford and Rayleigh Rotary clubs, as well as RHS volunteers and staff, to plant 30,000 purple crocus bulbs along the grass edges of the footpath leading to the vast grounds of RHS Hyde Hall in Hanningfield Road, Chelmsford.

Their efforts supported the continuing campaign to eradicate polio from the world and was designed to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the Rotary Foundation charity.

The task was made more difficult due to the hard ground following some two months of dry weather, and while the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) had pre-drilled ground holes these had to be made deeper with dibbers, stakes and in some cases a lump hammer, to assist with this task.

All those involved hope their hard work will be worth it in spring 2017 when the bulbs come into bloom.