The Polio Plus (Polio Immunisation) Campaign is the largest service project undertaken by Rotary and its greatest achievement. Polio created misery for hundreds of thousands causing permanent crippling or paralysis and in many cases also death. Those of an older generation will remember young people in this country being imprisoned in iron lungs to enable them to breath. In 1985, concerned that each year 350,000 contracted the disease Rotary resolved to eradicate polio from the world by means of the Salk vaccine, in collaboration mainly with the Red Cross, the W.H.O. and the U.S Centres for Disease Control. Rotary has spent over US $1.8 billion to date on the campaign. 2.5 billion children have been protected with very many Rotarians taking part in mass immunisations in some instances of several million children in a two week period in a concentrated region of Asia. In the last few years the Bill Gates Foundation (Bill Gates the American philanthropist and his wife Melinda) has joined the Rotary Polio Campaign and has made the offer that for every £1 raised by Rotary he will triple the sum so that £1 becomes £3 which is a large incentive for Rotary to maximise its fundraising for this worthy cause.
Today there are less than a hundred cases in the world and we expect to remove this scourge within a few years but the fight must not be allowed to weaken - we are 99.999% there. We need public support to reach our final goal of complete eradication. Once we have achieved this Rotary will no doubt enter into a fresh challenge to improve the lives of humanity.
Our club has been very active over the years in fundraising to support this great cause by organising events and holding street collections. We consider the ongoing fight to eradicate Polio to be the greatest of Rotary's achievements in its long history.
You can find out much more about Polio Plus from various easily accessible websites linked to this one and by using your internet browser.
'What We Do' Main Pages:
Following the death of Tony Hill his family have commissioned a memorial glass panel in his memory on Worthing Pier
moreSue Baldock, immediate past president hands over a cheque for £1000 to the local homeless charity 'Turning Tides'.
moreA seven day residential course for young people in their teens to hone their leadership potential
morePlease go to 'What we do do' section and scroll down to access the simple form which needs to be completed sent as indicated, which is headed 'Application for Financial Assistance'
moreThe Three Forts Marathon is the special one as it is approx 27.2 miles and covers rough terrain and steep climbs. The proceeds go to a local charity.
moreWalk along Worthing Promenade
moreA Rotary national annual competition conducted firstly locally then on a knock-out basis as rounds proceed to an eventual winner
moreSeveral members did a walk along Worthing seafront to raise awareness and to sponsor Turning Tides
moreThe picture shows a larger project than ours and illustrates the scope of sand dams that can be used for quite big communities.
morePicture shows Past President Sally Nowak, dog Poppy and club member Haydn Smith and wife Gail preparing to walk the South Downs Way for charity.
moreThe exhibition takes place every 2 years, the last one being at the Bohunt College, Broadwater, Worthing in March 2020
moreThis is a Rotary competition to encourage young people to exercise their talents with the written word.
moreOur cub's collaboration with Worthing Speakers' Club
moreOpportunity for those under exceptional circumstances and who are unable to obtain funding from statutory authorities- local or national
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