Wroxton News

Wroxton C of E Primary School is helping with the campaign to free the world from polio by planting crocuses to raise awareness of the Purple4Polio programme, led by Rotary to raise funds and promote the campaign to eradicate polio across the world. The planting of the crocuses will coincide with World Polio Day on 24th October, helping students and the local community join a global movement to make polio a disease of the past.

Polio mainly affects children under the age of five, yet it costs just 20p to inject a child with a life-saving vaccine. Each year, more than two billion doses of the oral polio vaccine must be administered to over 400 million children across more than 50 countries. When a child receives their life-saving polio drops during mass immunisation days, their little finger is painted with a purple dye to show that they have been vaccinated — a simple mark that symbolises hope for a polio-free future.

Rotary’s pledge for a world without polio began in 1985, at a time when there were 125 polio-endemic countries and hundreds of new cases every day. In recent years, that number has been reduced dramatically, with only two countries — Pakistan and Afghanistan — still classed as endemic. However, no child anywhere is safe until every child has been fully vaccinated, and the world must have zero cases and zero positive environmental samples before it can officially be certified polio-free.

Thanks to Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, remarkable progress has been made. Wroxton Primary School’s participation continues this vital work by supporting the Rotary Club of Banbury Cherwell with the planting of 2,000 purple crocuses. These flowers will bloom next year along the pathway leading to All Saints Church, Wroxton — a colourful reminder of the community’s contribution to a world free of polio.