EVERY child at a Tadley school planted a crocus bulb as part of a campaign to eradicate a potentially crippling disease from the world.

All 240 pupils at Bishopswood Junior School planted a crocus bulb in the school grounds to raise awareness about the Rotary Club International campaign to eradicate polio through immunisation, and to raise money for the cause through a collection.

The mass planting took a whole day, and when the blue plants are in full bloom in February, the children will hold a fundraising day to gather more funds Ann Morrow, head teacher at the Barlows Road school, explained that it was approached by Pangbourne Rotary Club, which supplied 1,000 bulbs so the school could support Rotary’s campaign which has been running for over 20 years.

Ms Morrow said: “We were studying the topic of UN rights of the child, and part of this is children’s right to be well and looked after, so it seemed a good thing for us to try and help other children have a healthier lifestyle.

“The flowers are blue because when children are vaccinated they get blue dye on their finger so they don’t get done twice.”

She added: “One girl gave £10 of her birthday money and that pays for 50 inoculations, which is incredible.

“I think it’s really good for the children to get involved in international projects as well as local things. We also sponsor a school in Uganda but this is a different international link.”

Polio is an infectious disease which can get into a person’s central nervous system, and the sufferer may be left with varying degrees of weakness, paralysis, fatigue, muscle pain, breathing or orthopaedic problems. It can lead to permanent disability and it can kill.

Polio still exists in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nigeria. With the help of $355million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary International and Rotary clubs world wide are working to eradicate the disease.