Photograph: Albion’s Darren Clayton and Ben Gulliver from the Pirates with the T-Shirts. Photographer, Mike Cox.
Two rugby teams in District 1290 took up the challenge to End Polio Now during a derby game by helping to raise funds.
Plymouth Albion and the Cornish Pirates donned specially made t-shirts for the pre-match warm up to show fans the importance of joining together to eradicate the disease. Two of the shirts were later signed by the teams and auctioned.
Fans gave generously to the collection by the Rotary Clubs of Plymouth Albion, Plympton, Drake Plymouth and Roborough.
Darren hands, Assistant Governor in District 1290 and member of the Rotary Club of Plympton, co-ordinated the event. He says it’s very easy to forget how devastating polio can be: "To people in their 30s or younger, their only knowledge of polio is the vaccination we got as children. Those a bit older, will probably have had first hand experience of Polio – they may have had friends or family who suffered from it or may have had it themselves."
Ken Edmonds, District Governor and also a member of the Rotary Club of Plympton, said the fight is not over yet: “It is vital that we eradicate polio from the four remaining endemic countries or the likelihood is that the disease will spread again to the countries which have been cleared. Every £1 raised in this campaign will purchase five doses of the special anti-polio vaccine. These children will be protected against polio – forever. With the public’s help we can destroy polio.”
Read more in the Plymouth Post which covered the match.
