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Millions of purple crocuses will be planted across the UK after it was agreed to roll out nationally an initiative which was put together in Guernsey.
Last year, a joint initiative between the two Rotary clubs in Guernsey – Rotary Club of Guernsey and Rotary Guernesiais - and Floral Guernsey saw a total of 70,000 purple crocus bulbs planted across every parish in Guernsey and also in Herm, Sark and Alderney. The aim of the initiative was to raise awareness of the efforts to eradicate polio from the world by the two Rotary clubs, and the purchase of the bulbs, which was funded by Ravenscroft, also raised enough money to cover the cost of more than a thousand vaccines.
Chair of Floral Guernsey Pat Johnson said: "As a member of Rotary and chair of Floral Guernsey, I could see the huge potential that this initiative had and so I approached the Royal Horticultural Society to see whether they would consider partnering with Rotary to roll this initiative out across the UK.
"Both organisations have complementary skills and attributes. Rotary club members are committed to improving the community and raising the profile of their End Polio Now campaign whilst having good connections to find sponsorship for the bulbs in their local areas and the RHS are like minded in their commitment to community, have a willing army of volunteers but they don’t have the financial resources. The aim is to bring both organisations together in towns and cities across the UK so that Rotary covers the costs of the bulbs and the RHS members help plant them in areas where they know are appropriate.
"There are 1,800 Rotary Clubs so if we can get 1,000 to sign up then that would see five million bulbs planted, and then if the RHS clubs match it then we double it to 10 million bulbs. Not only will this create a splash of purple up and down the UK but more importantly, it raises enough money to buy between 300,000 and 600,000 life-saving vaccines and raises the profile of the End Polio Now campaign.
"That will be fantastic publicity for the island. Here is an idea that was thought up on a tiny island in the middle of the Channel, successfully implemented across the whole Bailiwick and is now being extended across the whole of the UK."
Jannine Birtwistle from Rotary Club of Guernsey is the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland Polio Champion and recently led a team of 19 Rotarians from the UK to an industrial town north of Delhi in India. Over the weekend of 20th & 21st February, more than 170 million children under the age of five across India were given their polio immunisation.
"When you’re involved in a large scale immunisation programme and see first-hand the benefits it can bring, it makes all the hard work worthwhile. Rotary is championing the global fight against polio, which used to affect over 1,000 children every single day, and will keep on going until the world is free of this dreadful incurable yet totally preventable disease," she said.
"There are simply no words to describe how happy I am that this little seed of an idea that we had for Guernsey has grown into a national initiative which will raise enough money for thousands and thousands of vaccines. It’s been an amazing team effort with the community, Floral Guernsey, Rotarians and Ravenscroft all playing an essential part and I’m absolutely delighted at the outcome."
