On Saturday, three hardy Rotarians dug numerous holes in the ground above the Sensory (Sunken) Garden in Milton Park and planted around 3,000 purple crocus corms.

The plants will hopefully flower in the park around the end of February 2021 and for the years to come afterwards.

A further 1,000 corms were planted by Tim Smith later on Saturday in Milton Park.

These crocus flowers are there to represent the Rotary International project of End Polio Now, where Alsager Rotary, in conjunction with the World Health Organisation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with various governments around the world, are working towards making the world Polio free as soon as possible.

When Rotary started this cause in 1986, there were 360,000 cases of Polio throughout the world and it was fertile in over 50 countries around the world.

With the help of immunisations, communications about the diseases and education, this number has reduced to under 100 cases so far this year (2020) and it is now only found in two countries of the world, i.e. Pakistan and Afghanistan, as Africa was declared "Polio Free" in August 2020.

The proceeds from the purchase of the corms from the Rotary Club of Alsager, have gone into the End Polio Now fund and will help the continued support towards the eradication of Polio in the world.

Anyone who wants to get involved with Rotary in Alsager can contact the organisation through their website.

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