As you walk around Tettenhall Upper Green over the next few weeks keep an eye out for all the purple crocuses lifting their heads towards the sun – symbols of Rotary’s work to rid the world of Polio - a terrible disease that can kill or severely disable children.
For more than 30 years, Rotary and our partners have driven the effort to eradicate polio worldwide. Our PolioPlus program was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication by vaccinating children on a massive scale.
Rotary members have contributed more than $2.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. When Rotary started the campaign to eradicate polio, there were cases present in 125 countries worldwide, now cases have been reduced by 99.9% and just two countries remain polio endemic; Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tettenhall Rotary together with Wolverhampton’s other Rotary Clubs has been working with local schools and community groups to plant thousands of purple Crocus corms around the City to highlight the project. Why purple? – the colour symbolises the purple dye used to paint the little finger of each child after they receive the vital vaccine to protect them against this awful, crippling and life threatening disease.
