Banbury Rotary Club's end polio campaign continues to be a success

And with Gift Aid and double match-funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the donation is now worth £1,000, enough to vaccinate 3,000 children.

The campaign has been running since 2013 and aims to eradicate polio.

As part of the campaign, the club has teamed up with local secondary schools to plant purple crocus corms around the town.

Last month at their meeting Rotarians heard from Judith Diment, Rotary’s national ambassador for the Polio Eradication Campaign, who said the number of wild polio virus cases in 2016 had halved from 75 in 2015 to 37. She added no new cases had been reported so far this year.

Vaccinations must continue for three years after the final reported case to stop outbreaks and all countries remain at risk until polio is eradicated.

Donations for the Rotary campaign are still being sought and the town’s annual crocus concerts are being held in March, at St Mary’s Church.

On March 7, students from Blessed George Napier, Bloxham, Chenderit and Tudor Hall Schools will perform and on March 9 students from Banbury, North Oxfordshire, Sibford and The Warriner will take to the stage. Both concerts will start at 7pm. Tickets are £5 and additional voluntary donations can be made at the end. For more information email [email protected].