Rotary in the North of Scotland brought traffic on the Road to the Isles to a standstill last night when it projected its ‘End Polio Now’ on the side of Eilean Donan Castle as part of the organisations movement to fully eradicate the dreadful disease.
Eilean Donan becomes the most recent iconic building used to have the projected image beamed onto it in order to raise the awareness of Rotary’s worldwide bid to help with the highlight campaign which to date has raised 800 million dollars since its inception in 1986. The most recent campaign runs in order to assist the Rotary Clubs throughout the world hit their commitment of raising over one billion dollars towards the polio cause.
District Governor for the North of Scotland said, "We could see that very recognisable images throughout the world were being lit up and we felt that with the many iconic castles throughout our District, we simply had to get in on the action".
"We use Eilean Donan as one of District’s key images, so there was no doubt when you consider the fact that it is believed to be the most photographed castle in the world that we had to feature it in the worldwide campaign".
He continued, "It was absolutely amazing to see the cars on the road to Skye slowing down to look at the image and even turning round to come in to the car park to take their own photographs of the image. So there is no doubt that we have been able to raise the awareness even in our own small way".
"It’s amazing to think that when Rotary started the campaign back in the 80’s that there were more than 340,000 cases of polio every year throughout the world. And it is thanks to Rotary’s partnership with other organisations that this figure is now down to less than 2,000".
"As the final push to bring this disease to an end, Rotary was delighted last month to have 250 million dollars donated from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This was quickly followed by a commitment of 150 million dollars from the British Government and a further 130 million from their German counterparts. So there is no doubt our case if being recognised at the highest levels throughout the world".
Referring to the lighting up campaign, Mr Rankin said, "In the past few weeks we have lit up the Sydney Opera House, the Coliseum in Rome and the Houses of Parliament in London". He laughed, "I am probably biased, but I truly believe that our image on the front of the world-famous Eilean Donan castle undoubtedly trumps the others that have already taken place".
"I know that the image will be sent to Rotary’s International office in the USA and I am absolutely positive that our Scottish image will be used again and again throughout the world".
He concluded, "We are really so close to finally ridding the world of this devastating disease once and for all, so I am extremely proud that District 1010 in the north of Scotland has been able to contribute in its own small way to enhancing that final push we need to get the point we all so desire; that there is no more polio in the world".
"I know I speak on behalf of the 3,500 Rotarians in this district to confirm that we are fully committed to ‘End Polio Now’."
07/04/09
