A CROCUS display has been created at Runcorn Town Hall to highlight a worldwide campaign to eradicate polio.
Runcorn Rotary Club has raised more than £400 for the ‘Thanks for Life - End Polio Now’ challenge to eliminate the disease.
Rotarians have joined the Eden Project and the international flower bulb centre in Holland to launch The Big Bulb Plant, encouraging everyone to plant a crocus.
The purple crocus represents the dye colour dabbed on children’s little finger to indicate they have been immunised against polio.
Rotarian Ken Tonge, from Runcorn, said: ”In 1985, there were 125 countries where polio was endemic, resulting in more than 1,000 children a day dying or being disabled. There are now only four countries Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan, where polio remains endemic.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation adds a donation for every £1 raised by Rotary International, which made a commitment in 1985 to immunise every child.
Purple crocus brooches have been sold at Runcorn Shopping Centre.
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