As children and young people return to their local BB groups one of the first activities they will be encouraged to get involved with is the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign, ahead of World Polio Day on 24th October.

We have worked together with Rotary, who have been part of the efforts to eradicate polio for more than 35 years, to develop a range of new activities focused on the ‘End Polio Now’ campaign.

The partnership is being referred to as ‘Operation Purple Pinky’, with vaccination programmes in many countries seeing children having their finger painted purple to indicate they have received the vaccine and are protected.

The new resources, which were recently launched at an event at Carronvale House, have been created for use with all of the age groups that BB works with (5-18 year olds). They are designed to help give children and young people an opportunity to learn more about polio and the devastating impact it can have, before working together to support the campaign to eradicate polio.

Polio 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 attacks the nervous system, potentially leading to paralysis or even death. Polio has no cure, but there is a safe and effective vaccine.

Gordon McInally, from Rotary International, commented: “Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. It’s concerning to hear how polio has been now confirmed in Gaza. Due to the efforts of Rotary and our partners on polio, nearly 19 million people who would otherwise have been paralysed are walking, and more than 1.5 million people are alive who would otherwise have died.”

“Operational Purple Pinky will support continued campaigning, health worker training and vaccination programmes that are essential to stop the disease returning and to end polio. Advocacy and fundraising are also really important and it’s great to be working together with the BB to raise awareness of this disease among young people across the UK.”

Jonathan Eales, Chief Executive of The Boys’ Brigade, added: “We are pleased to be working with Rotary on this project. As a Christian youth organisation we believe it’s important to create a space for children and young people to learn about the challenges, like polio, faced by some of our global neighbours, but also importantly how we can respond and do something to help. We hope to see as many of our groups as possible getting involved.“

Find out more about Rotary’s ‘End Polio Now’ campaign at endpolio.org

BB leaders can access the new resources on our Programme Hub.

You can also find out more about the partnership in the video below…