Purple for Polio - Crocus Planting at Eastington Primary School

Below are 2 pictures from Eastington School, along with some of the students who helped to plant tham lat November.    Looking really good!

After these, a picture from some additional planting at Eastingtom Community Orchasrd,  and Whistminster School from the previouys planting.

Stonehouse Rotarians gathered with support from the Eastington Community Orchard project to present a school assembly about ‘Purple4Polio’ and then to help the children plant about 3-4,000 purple crocus corms outside Eastington School and in the Orchard. The children were very attentive and interested and asked lots of searching questions about Polio, Immunisation and Edward Jenner. We explained the significant of the colour purple to the campaign to rid the world of this awful disease and why the purple crocuses as they brighten the world in February will help remind us all of the extraordinary effort undertaken by Rotary with partners from all around the world. The number of cases has gone from 350,000 a year in 1988 to only 22 so far this year and Rotary has already raised $1.2 billion since 1985 to help achieve such amazing success. Stonehouse Rotary continues to play its part in fundraising and awareness raising in local schools and elsewhere to make sure we achieve that final victory. Than after the school assembly, ten groups of children in turn convened on the Churchend Green to plant the crocus corms. Rotary members removed grass turf in various patterns to allow pupils to place or scatter the corms. The turf was then relaid with a gleeful and enthusiastic student stomping proceeding to achieve necessary compaction. We are looking forward to a blaze of purple later in February to follow the snowdrop mantle in the churchyard. Thanks are due to the support of the Parish Council, who are responsible for ground maintenance. Charles Buckley and John Morris See more detail on Rotary's International Polio Day here, and a selection of the pictures of the students at Eastington. Later update - see details published in the Eastington Community News: https://ecn.eastington.website/2019/02/01/purple-4-polio-crocus-planting-at-the-school/ Purple 4 Polio – Crocus planting at the School World Polio Day was October 24th 2018. Stonehouse Rotarians gathered with support from the Eastington Community Orchard project to present a school assembly about ‘Purple4Polio’ and then to help the children plant about 3-4,000 purple crocus corms outside Eastington School and in the Orchard. The children were very attentive and interested and asked lots of searching questions about Polio, Immunisation and Edward Jenner. We explained the significant of the colour purple to the campaign to rid the world of this awful disease and why the purple crocuses,as they brighten the world in February, will help remind us all of the extraordinary effort undertaken by Rotary with partners from all around the world. The number of cases has gone from 350,000 a year in 1988 to only 22 so far this year and Rotary has already raised $1.2 billion since 1985 to help achieve such amazing success. Stonehouse Rotary continues to play its part in fundraising and awareness raising in local schools and elsewhere to make sure we achieve that final victory and eliminate polio completely. Than after the school assembly, ten groups of children in turn convened on the Churchend Green to plant the crocus corms. Rotary members removed grass turf in various patterns to allow pupils to place or scatter the corms. The turf was then relaid with a gleeful and enthusiastic student stomping proceeding to achieve necessary compaction.