4,000 purple crocuses planted in Storrington as symbol of polio campaign

While socially distanced, Storrington and Pulborough District Rotary Club planted the crocuses at Storrington Memorial Pond on World Polio Day on Saturday, October 24.

Purple has become a symbolic colour in the global Rotary campaign to eradicate polio, inspired by the colour of the dye painted on the little finger of a child to signify they have received a potentially life-saving polio vaccine.

Organiser Rob von Bergen said: “The crocuses will be a fitting reminder of how much work Rotary has done over the years to eradicate Polio and spread some springtime joy”

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years and the goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.

As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary has reduced polio cases by 99.9 per cent since the first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979. Recently the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Africa region has officially been certified wild polio-free.

Rotary members worldwide have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly three billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease and its advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.