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Rotary in Guernsey are inviting you to come and celebrate Guernsey being Polio free for 60 years, at an event being held tonight.
His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor Sir Ian Corder and Lady Corder will be joining the charity this evening to toast their successes locally at the Performing Arts Centre.
The aim of the event is to recognise and thank the people of Guernsey for all the help they have given to date and to learn about 'the challenges still faced'.
"Only together can we end polio and the evening will highlight how this applies locally as much as globally. Personal stories from polio survivors and others, interspersed with clips from the funny, thought provoking and moving film Breathe, and of course the toast to Guernsey, will provide a light hearted evening with a serious message," a spokesperson for the event said.
Guernsey has been polio free for 60 years.
The keynote speaker tonight is David Leeks. Mr Leeks is a Polio survivor, Past Chairman and Trustee of the British Polio Fellowship and ex-mayor of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. Other speakers include Guernsey's Director of Public Health Nicola Brink, local Polio survivor Richard de la Rue, Alison MacKrill from Appleby, our sponsors for the evening, and Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland Polio Champion Jannine Birtwistle who lives here in Guernsey.
During the evening Channel Island Toys will be receiving recognition for their work supporting the fight for a polio free world as they receive a People of Action Polio Award from Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland and the Overseas Aid and Development Commission will be thanked for the £40,000 matching grant they contributed in recent years.
Pictured: Planting thousands of crocus corms as part of Purple for Polio.
"Never heard of polio? Count yourself lucky - whilst Guernsey can proudly celebrate 60 years of mothers not worrying about their children catching polio, whilst the virus exists anywhere in the world children everywhere are at risk. It is only a plane ride away. In fact polio is nearly eradicated but the last mile is always the hardest and nearly just isn't good enough. If we don't finish the job it is estimated there could be 200,000 cases every single year all over the world in just 10 years," the spokesperson explained.
"Since Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) over 30 years ago, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99.99%, from about 350,000 cases a year in 125 countries to just 33 cases in 2018 and with just two countries reporting cases of wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"In order to sustain this progress, around 2 billion doses of the vaccine still have to be given to more than 400 million children in up to 60 countries every single year. This is in addition to the routine immunisations that happen elsewhere around the world, including here in Guernsey, the UK and Ireland."
Email Jannine Birtwistle rtnjannine@icloud.com to book your free ticket for this evening.
Pictured top: The Corders are the patrons of the Rotary Club Guernsey.
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