Bridport Rotary Club in Bucky Doo Square on Saturday

Members of the club will set up a stall in Bucky Doo Square on Saturday, October 26  to pass on the good news to shoppers about the control of polio and the significance of the purple crocus.

They will be raising awareness following World Polio Day, which takes place today, Thursday October 24. 

The campaign to eradicate the disease is known as the Polio Plus campaign and its chosen emblem is the purple crocus flower.

Bridport Rotary Club will be offering crocus corms at low cost for people to plant and when they flower they will be a reminder of the fight against the disease.

Saturday's day of awareness follows on from previous awareness events that have been staged by the club throughout October. 

A club spokesman said: "It was a pleasant day with the people of Bridport and visitors enjoying the busy market and it gave them the opportunity to make a donation, if they so wished.

"The first donation came from someone who was keen to support the campaign.

"He had a good and understandable reason; he had experienced the disease as a child.

"Along with the many people we spoke to, we were pleased to welcome a member of a Rotaract Club in Sri Lanka who is in this country on a work exchange.

"We also had the privilege of a visit from the Bridport Town Crier, John Collingwood, who, as always, was in very good voice!

"As well as the interest in Polio Plus and the crocus corms, several people asked if we we would be selling hyacinth bulbs again this year.

"The answer was ‘Yes but not for a few weeks”. Their interest was very encouraging for future sales!"

The spokesman added: "Progress toward reaching a polio-free world this year would not have been possible without vaccines.

"Thanks to their safety and efficacy, the World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region, which includes India, is celebrating a decade free of wild polio, and the WHO Region of the Americas, which includes the United States, is celebrating 30 years of the same."