Kettering hotel set to turn purple thanks to donation of 4,000 bulbs from Rotarians

A swathe of purple crocuses will appear in front of the Kettering Park Hotel & Spa next spring, thanks to a donation of 4,000 bulbs.

Marking World Polio Day (Monday, October 24), Kettering Huxloe Rotary Club showed their support for Rotary International’s End Polio Now campaign.

On a day of raising awareness and funds, members were joined by Andrew Hollett, the hotel’s general manager, and club president Bill Parker.

Andrew Hollett said: “The hotel is very grateful to the members of the Kettering Huxloe Rotary Club for not just donating, but also planting, these crocuses which will provide a glorious welcome to our guests next spring. Through our membership of the club, we are delighted to support the End Polio Now campaign and we wish Rotary every success in achieving its aim.”

For over 30 years, Rotary International has been working hard to rid the world of polio – an infectious disease that can paralyse children but which can be prevented through timely vaccination.

Bill Parker said: “The worldwide eradication of polio is tantalisingly close. When it is achieved, it will be one of human history’s greatest public health successes. By donating these crocuses, the Kettering Huxloe Rotary Club is not merely raising funds for the eradication campaign but just as importantly, is helping to raise people’s awareness of the ongoing polio threat and the need to overcome it. I encourage everyone to get involved and help us finish the job.”

When Rotary started its campaign to eradicate polio in the 1980s, there were cases present in 125 countries worldwide with more than 350,000 children being paralysed every year. Now just two countries remain polio endemic – Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rotary has helped to immunise more than 2.5 billion children and to reduce the number of cases by 99.9 per cent.

Despite this success, until the polio virus has been completely eradicated, efforts to rid the world of it must continue. 400 million children worldwide have to be immunised each year and more than 150,000 health workers have to be engaged to carry out the task, often involving them going door-to-door to make sure every child in every neighbourhood is vaccinated.

The purple crocus was chosen as the symbol of Rotary’s worldwide campaign because the purple colour matches the dye painted on the fingers of children who have been immunised. In the UK, Rotary have joined forces with the Royal Horticultural Society to promote the planting of purple crocuses with all the profits from the sale of bulbs going into the campaign fund used to purchase and distribute polio vaccines. Every donation made to the campaign fund (www.rotarygbi.org/donatepolio) is double-matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, meaning the fund grows by three pounds for every pound given.

The Kettering Huxloe Rotary Club, which currently has 45 members, serves communities both locally and overseas.

The club welcomes new members. Anyone wishing to find out more about membership should email the club at [email protected].