MILFORD Haven’s churches will be lit purple this month as part of a campaign dedicated to ending polio across the world.

On Wednesday, October 24 at 6.30pm St Katharine and St Peter’s Church, St. Cewydd and St. Peter Church in Steynton, and the Rotary garden in Steynton will be lit up in purple to highlight the final push to rid the world of polio.

This is an initiative from Milford Haven Rotary Club, supported by Fr Harri Williams and Fr John Cecil, and by Rotarian Joe Mayne.

Rotary members across the country are also lighting up iconic buildings in purple in towns and cities, including Broadgate in Coventry, the National Library of Wales and the Wills Memorial Building at the University of Bristol.

The Purple4Polio campaign highlights the colour of the dye placed on the little finger on the left hand of a child to show they have been immunised against polio.

Since 2013, the Gates Foundation has worked with Rotary, matching every $1 Rotary commits to polio eradication two-to-one.

Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative nearly 30 years ago, when there were over 1,000 polio cases a day in 125 countries.

The incidence of polio since then has plummeted by more than 99.99 per cent, from about 350,000 cases a year to just 22 cases in two remaining polio-endemic countries, Afghanistan, and Pakistan with just 19 cases of wild poliovirus so far up to September 2018.

To sustain this progress and protect all children from polio, Rotary has committed to raising US$50 million per year over the next three years in support of global polio eradication efforts.

Here in Milford Haven, the Rotary club has played its part in supporting the initiatives to end polio, contributing typically £700 each year from members’ donations and fund raising events.

For more details, or to make a donation see endpolio.org