Sixth Form Interact Crocus Bulb Planting- November 2020

What the Interact Club did - On Tuesday 17th November, the Interact Club planted 500 purple crocus bulbs in the Red Zone garden to raise awareness for Polio. This is part of the Rotary Club’s campaign to eradicate Polio which has had huge success in the past with roughly 7 million purple crocus bulbs being planted every year across Britain and Ireland.

What is Polio? Polio is a life threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. It’s highly contagious and spreads from person to person, often causing muscle weakness and paralysis if it infects the person’s spinal cord. Poliovirus is most commonly spread through contact with faeces and contamination in conditions of poor hygiene.

What do the purple crocuses symbolise? The crocuses are purple which frequently symbolises pride, success and dignity but in this case, the purple represents the colour of the dye used to mark the finger of a child who has been immunised on mass polio vaccination days.

The Rotary Club’s involvement - When the Rotary Club first pledged for a polio free world in 1985, there were 125 polio endemic countries with hundreds of new cases every day. Today there are just two countries with reported cases of polio, but there is still a long way to go before the disease can be fully eradicated. This partly includes over 2 billion doses of oral polio vaccine to more than 400 million children. There has to be zero cases of polio for three years and zero positive environmental samples before the world can be certified polio free.