PLANT ONE ON POLIO

PLANT ONE ON POLIO - FOCUS ON THE CROCUS

London's Trafalgar Square was handed over to Rotary's Thanks for Life for a day on Friday 1^st October when Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (Rotary GB&I), the Eden Project and the International Flower Bulb Centre (IFBC) joined forces to launch the BIG BULB PLANT in conjunction with Thanks for Life. 

A massive stage was set up in the Square to officially launch the campaign and hundreds of volunteers will now get local communities involved with planting crocuses and raising funds to help End Polio Now.  Over 4.6 million crocus bulbs are ready to be planted throughout the coming weeks in all sorts of places. Volunteers are also aiming to break the Guinness World Record for the most number of people simultaneously planting bulbs. 

Since 1985, Rotarians across the whole world have been raising funds, raising awareness and helping administer the polio vaccine in endemic countries. Millions of young children have been spared from the curse of this crippling and potentially fatal disease thanks to the hard work of Rotary members working alongside Unicef, the World Health Organisation and other health bodies. There used to 129 endemic countries with 350,000 children being infected every year.  Now, 25 years on, there are only 4 endemic countries and new cases have declined to around 1,000 per year.  

The Purple Giant crocuses will not only brighten up the environment but, when they bloom in Spring 2011, it will mark the climax of the Thanks for Life campaign. The purple colour is symbolic of the dye used to mark a child's little finger once they have been protected from the disease.

For more information log on to the Focus on the Crocus website; and to get involved with planting crocus bulbs in your community get in touch with the Rotary Club of Swindon North by using the email form below.