Brixham 'blooms' to celebrate 120th birthday of Rotary

Rotarians in Brixham have been celebrating the 120th birthday of the worldwide organisation to show it is still very much 'blooming'.

Since being founded by Paul Harris in Chicago in 1905, members of Rotary have left an enormous mark on the world.

They’ve almost eradicated polio, they’ve trained peacebuilders, supported education for millions. Every single day their network of 1.4 million changemakers across the globe are transforming lives, bringing people together and making a difference in our communities.

Rotary Brixham President Susan Laurie said: “As we celebrated 120 years of Rotary service on February 23, which was also celebrated as World Understanding and Peace Day, it was a perfect time to reflect on the remarkable achievements of our members and celebrate Rotary’s tireless commitment to peace and doing good in our local communities.”

She added: "A prime example of this is our support in eradicating Polio with only Afghanistan and Pakistan being the only two counties with Polio in the wild.

"In Brixham over the past few years Rotary have been planting purple crocus bulbs to support the End Polio now campaign and as anybody walking around the town will witness the current view of these plants now coming into bloom.”

The purple crocus is a symbol of Rotary’s worldwide campaign to eradicate polio, with its colour representing the purple dye used to mark the finger of a child to indicate they have received their life saving oral polio vaccine.

As in previous years the club has continued to support this project. Walks by the many Pride in Brixham cultured Gardens and St Mary’s Park should reward people with these lovely purple blooms.

More details of the Rotary Club of Brixham and its charitable donations and events are available on the Club website www.brixhamrotary.org and their Facebook page.