Foundation Of Our Success

It’s March 2024 and time for the annual Rotary District 1240 Foundation Lunch.  Held once again at Little Channels in Chelmsford, this year we were very well represented - by President Roger Kettle and Sarah, President-Elect Patrick Rothon and Carol, Immediate Past President Michael Ginn and Sue, Peter Greene and Wendy, and Chandra Gupta, who were among about 85 Rotarians present on the day. 

Also present were Global Grant Students Emma Appleby (USA) and Misato Kobayashi (Japan).

VIP Speaker!

Our Keynote Speaker was Aidan O’Leary, Director of Global Polio Eradication at the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.).  We are honoured to have such an important and key driver of the World’s Polio Eradication effort, address us.

Aidan was a brilliant speaker, talking clearly and succinctly without notes, and making such a clear presentation of the state of polio eradication in today’s world, the challenges faced and the efforts to overcome them!
His principal points were that huge progress had been made since the mid 1980s when Polio was endemic in 125 countries with over a thousand cases every day.  This year, there is only one strain of wild polio present in the world, and this is confined to a narrow strip of land on the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The last case was in October 2023.  Residents of the area don’t acknowledge the border between the countries and try to move freely between them.  So the vaccination program can’t work separately with the two countries but has to take a holistic approach.  

There are multiple challenges - 12 million children in Afghanistan, 45 million in Pakistan, the Taliban in Afghanistan, the factional politics of Pakistan, underestimates of the real number of children by 30%, migration between countries, etc. etc.  Despite these, thousands of vaccines are successfully given each year.  
Aidan left us all highly impressed by the progress made in combating Polio.  As we know, if vaccination stopped, it is expected that the number of cases would swiftly rise to 200,000 within 10 years.

Didn’t we do well!

As usual, the Foundation lunch is the opportunity to celebrate those clubs which have done the most to support The Rotary Foundation, and its End Polio Now campaign.

Our club walked away with four awards for Rotary Year 2022-23 which Immediate Past President Michael Ginn accepted on our behalf because they were won in his Presidential year:

• End Polio Now - Countdown to History presented by Aidan O’Leary.  A certificate given to the Rotary Club in our District which has made the highest contribution to End Polio Now (over £7,000).
• Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY).  A banner given to our Rotary Club of Billericay because every member of the club continues to donate over $25 to The Rotary Foundation Every Year.  Presented by PDG Jed Brooks.
• One Hundred Percent Club.  A banner given to our Rotary Club of Billericay because every member of the club is a “Sustaining Member” of The Rotary Foundation by donating $100 or more to it this last year.    Presented by PDG Jed Brooks.
• Buck’s Bucket - a wine bucket and a bottle of Prosecco, donated by the late PDG Ken Buck to be awarded to the District 1240 Rotary Club which had the highest percentage of sustaining members in the District.   Presented by PDG Jed Brooks.

Finale

The event was in support of The Rotary Foundation’s End Polio Now. It raised £1300 - not bad for a single meal.