Worksop pupils plant purple flowers to raise awareness of deadly virus

Green-fingered children at a Worksop primary school were delighted to receive a gift of 1,000 crocus bulbs.
Back row are representatives of Worksop Rotary Club - Peter Swinscoe, Ken Thompson (president) and Clare Davis with children from Haggonfields Primary School.Back row are representatives of Worksop Rotary Club - Peter Swinscoe, Ken Thompson (president) and Clare Davis with children from Haggonfields Primary School.
Back row are representatives of Worksop Rotary Club - Peter Swinscoe, Ken Thompson (president) and Clare Davis with children from Haggonfields Primary School.

The purple flowering spring bulbs were gifted to Haggonsfield Primary School by the Worksop Rotary Club, as part of its Purple4Polio drive and to raise awareness and support for World Polio Day on October 24.

Since 1985, Rotary has been working worldwide to eradicate polio, contributing more than £2.1billion to the effort.

Mrs Handley-Sawer, head teacher at Haggonfields Primary School, said: “We were delighted that our school council had the opportunity to work with Peter Swinscoe and members of the local Rotary club to plant one thousand purple crocus bulbs in the school grounds.

"The staff of Haggonfields are proud to have such strong links with our community and grateful to club, who volunteered their time to weed and prepare the four raised flowerbeds on the school grounds.

“The colour of the crocus petals will be purple which is symbolic of the Rotary’s work as part of the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign. Now we can all look forward to the spring display and remember and honour the work of those fighting to end the spread of polio.”

Pupil Alex Rudderham, ten, said: “We really enjoyed planting the crocus bulbs. We were happy that the Rotary Club wanted to help our school.”

Fellow pupil Maddison Bull, age nine, said that everyone was looking forward to spring display and will remember the good cause behind the effort.

She added: “The flowers will really brighten up our playground.”

The Rotary Club of Worksop has been serving the community of Worksop area since 1928 and currently has 22 members and meets currently by Zoom every two weeks.

President Ken Thompson, of the Rotary Club of Worksop, said: “We were proud to mark World Polio Day locally. The club has supported the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign since 1985 and has raised many thousands of pounds and this is one of the many volunteering activities the club is involved in every year.”

Contact The Rotary Club of Worksop to find out more about activities you can get involved in to help end Polio.

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