David Langdon, Paul Wheeler and Ian Pratt, members of the Rotary Club ‘Rotary on the Wight’ and supported by Wight Cycle Hire with the generous loan of three e-bikes are cycling from Yarmouth Harbour to Ryde via Cowes and Newport on Saturday 31st October to raise awareness of the Rotary International Campaign to eradicate polio.

For every £1 donated by you, the Bill Gates Foundation donates £2 so if you give £5 it automatically becomes a gift of £15. Even more if you are a UK tax payer

Why are we doing this?

In 1985 there were over 350,000 cases ANNUALLY of Polio and the virus was endemic in 125 countries worldwide.

In 1985 Rotary International started this campaign

By the year 2000 over FIVE HUNDRED MILLION children worldwide had been vaccinated against polio.

Teams of health workers and volunteers (many of them Rotarians) tour remote areas of the world administering the vaccine.

In 2025 there were 35 cases worldwide.

THIS IS A REDUCTION OF 99.9%!

So why is a campaign still necessary?

The polio virus remains present in sewage throughout the world. EVEN IN THE UK.

Polio is a very virulent disease.

Without continued immunisation there remains a risk of an epidemic.

In 2025 the United States Government withdrew funding to the World Health Organisation severely limiting it’s ability to contribute funds and health workers to the immunisation campaign.

In 2026 the UK Government withdrew all funding from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

This is why we continue the fight.

This is why we are bringing awareness of the disease and the Rotary fight to eradicate it into the public eye.

We are asking you to donate just Five Pounds toward the Rotary International Campaign. Remember that for every Pound you donate. Bill Gates donates Two Pounds.

Please support us by donating anything you can and please make your family and friends aware of this campaign.