This year the Willaston and South Wirral Rotary Club in, Northwest England, will once more be seeking to raise money and awareness through Purple for Polio, along with the rest of the international Rotary community.
Back in 2021, Willaston and South Wirral Rotary Club supported the annual Rotary Purple for Polio Day through three of their exciting activities.
General awareness was raised through Christ Church in Willaston allowing the club to add purple filters to the floodlights that illuminate the local church in the centre of the village.
This was backed up with leaflets being displayed by local businesses, who also kindly agreed to take collection buckets for donations from their customers.
The culmination of the club’s efforts also came with a morning of selling purple cupcakes at the town market held in Willaston Memorial Hall.
During a conversation with the shop assistants explaining the aims of Purple for Polio, one of them added a large donation.”
The club had set up their table in the hall with the sale of cakes already going well when a rumour started that there was someone present who had a particular interest in its aims.
Liz Mogg, one of the organisers of the market came over and introduced herself and then followed the meeting with a phone call during which she told us her story.
Being able to hear a first-hand account of the Salk trials was both unexpected and fascinating. Liz explained how the staff of the still fledgling NHS were approached for volunteers to take part in the trial.
She still clearly recalls how she was taken to the Royal Hospital in Sheffield and had to lie on a bed as a professor of medicine took her blood pressure and temperature before injecting her with either the vaccine or placebo.
After this, she had to remain lying down without any sheets while being monitored. As she didn’t develop any noticeable side effects, that was all there was to it for her.
Liz still wonders how many children took part in the trial, and how many are still with us.
The recent re-emergence of the disease in both London and New York amply illustrates how, despite being close to eradicating it, the final push now requires a redoubling of efforts.”
During a conversation with the shop assistants explaining the aims of Purple for Polio, one of them added a large donation.
It turns out she had a very personal reason for wanting to support the campaign and her story was every bit as relevant and informative as Liz’s.
She explained how she’d emigrated from China where her sister had contracted Polio about 20 years ago, unfortunately leaving her with impaired mobility.
This year the Willaston and South Wirral Rotary Club will once more be seeking to raise money and awareness through Purple for Polio, along with the rest of the international Rotary community.
The recent re-emergence of the disease in both London and New York amply illustrates how, despite being close to eradicating it, the final push now requires a redoubling of efforts.
