Taking Fundraising to New Heights for the Rotary Foundation
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Not quite. It’s Rotaract Great Britain and Ireland’s Chair strapped to the wings of an aeroplane!
Chloe Rollings on top of the wing walking plane
Our Chair, Chloe Rollings, took to the skies with eleven others at Duxford Airfield for a Wing Walk, organised by Welwyn Garden City Rotary club to mark their centenary with money raised going to support the End Polio Now campaign via The Rotary Foundation, as well as other local initiatives.
The fundraising efforts saw each brave member of the group take it in turns to be strapped on top of the wings of a 1940’s Boeing Stearman biplane before traveling through the sky at speeds of up to 135mphs.
Emma White, Amanda Joseph, Heather Stuart, Chloe Rollings, Anne Sutcliffe with Georgina in the plane
Following Sunday’s flight, Chloe said;
It is quite surreal to be able to say ‘I have completed a Wing Walk’. It is truly nothing like anything I have ever experienced. I thoroughly enjoyed every second!
It was an incredible way to support a cause I care deeply about and I am pleased to have represented Rotaract Great Britain and Ireland alongside fellow Rotarians.
I am so grateful to everyone who sponsored me to take part, helped me raise awareness and cheered me on from the sidelines. I am delighted to share that I reached my £1000 target and as a team we have raised over £7000 for End Polio Now.
The Rotary Foundation is the charitable arm of Rotary that transforms gifted funds into projects that change lives around the world.
The eradication of polio is one of Rotary’s longest standing and most significant efforts. Along with partners, Rotary has helped immunize more than 3 billion children against polio in 122 countries.
Most commonly known as polio, Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5.
The virus is spread person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis. Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine.
Polio cases have reduced by 99.9% worldwide and Rotary won't stop until the disease is gone for good.
If polio is not fully eradicated, we could see a global resurgence of the disease with as many as 200,000 new cases each year over the next 10 years, all over the world.
As the goal of getting closer to ending polio, it is important to increase disease detection, also known as surveillance, to ensure the virus is truly gone from every corner of the world. Given that only one in 200 cases of polio results in paralysis, the campaign to end polio relies on the program's extensive surveillance and laboratory network to tell us where polio does (and does not) exist.
Every dollar Rotary International commits to end polio will be tripled thanks to a matching agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The average cost for a single dose of the oral polio vaccine is US$0.15.
