The purple crocus, which is the emblem for Rotary’s campaign to eliminate polio from the world, are in bloom in Bantock Park in

Wolverhampton. This beautiful display, created in November by the Rotary club of Wolverhampton with the help of local schoolchildren,

serves to raise public awareness of the massive effort made by Rotary clubs throughout the world to defeat this horrible disease.

When the project started in 1985 there were over 1000 new cases every day somewhere in the world. Last year, there were only 33 new cases – 12 in Pakistan and 21 in Afghanistan. As of 19th February 2019 there have been 6 new cases reported this year. Rotarians have donated $1.8 billion to the campaign, to which the Gates Foundation had added $450 million match funding.

PDG Richard Green