Page 26 - Jigsaw December 2021

CHARITY AND FUNDRAISING NEWS
Striving to make Polio a thing of the past
Rotary Clubs try to make a difference to their local area and further afield. Rotary clubs, Rotary Great Britain and Ireland and Rotary International have all been highly involved in trying to eradicate Polio.
You might have seen press or TV coverage when the Tower of London, and landmarks in other parts of the UK, were bathed in purple light on October 24th for World Polio Day. The event marked a celebration of the progress that has been made by Rotary, other partners, and the millions of people involved in the effort to try to ensure a polio-free world. Some of you may have contributed financially - perhaps making a donation for one of Rotary’s purple crocuses as part of Rotary’s Purple4Polio initiative. Purple is chosen as the colour for the appeal because, in some countries, children have a purple dot painted on their fingers to indicate that they have been given the potentially life saving polio vaccine. Did you know that Rotary is committed to raising US$50 million each year to support the global eradication efforts, or that the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation has pledged to match that 2-1? That means a total annual contribution of $150 million! So far there have only been two cases of polio this year across two counties, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is easy to forget that there are still polio survivors living
in in the UK, or that polio is a viral infection that can cause very debilitating results including severe nerve damage, full or partial paralysis and that, if left untreated, it can result in heart and
ROTARY SHOEBOX SCHEME
Thank you to all who made up their own boxes and to those who came and made them up at our Shoebox Making Days.
We all had great fun and it was lovely to watch families making them up together. We have sent over 550 boxes, which is a wonderful achievement by everyone and by the time you read this they will be on their way to those who need them. We are so grateful for the support
lung failure or even death.
Christmas is approaching fast and like many
groups we are looking forward to our own events at this time of the year. Our annual carol service is held each December, and this year the service is at Holy Trinity Church, Denford, on Tuesday December 14th at 7pm. You would be made very welcome if you would like to join
us for the service and, covid rules at that time permitting, for refreshments afterwards.
We would like to thank and congratulate all those involved in the Thrapston Community Rotary Show Box Appeal on their tremendous work in filling so many boxes this year.
Lastly good news for our club...
We were very pleased to find that the club had been awarded a ‘Rotary Citation’ in recognition of all the hard work and commitment shown by the club in the most trying circumstances of the past year.
Find out more about our club on our Facebook page, we are always keen to hear from anyone who would like to join us.
Alan Dodds
we receive by donations of money or items. Any donations can be dropped off at 10 Heron Ave, Thrapston, please. We could not do this without the Community help. We do Rotary boxes all year round and are planning three shoebox making days next year. Dates to follow. Follow us on Facebook for updates.
Thank you all and please keep supporting us.
Lindsey, Cindy and Jean.
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