Polio — it was once a disease to be feared in this country, but thankfully the last recorded case in the UK was in 1982. Unfortunately, that is not true of other countries.

With that in mind, the Rotary Club of Okehampton will be running its Thanks for Life campaign in Red Lion Yard between today (Thursday) and Saturday February 27.

Thanks to links between Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, every £1 donation given to support immunisation against polio is worth £2.78. President of Okehampton Rotary, Mike Macklin said: 'The vaccine to immunise one child costs just 50p — so a £1 donation can save more than five lives.'

Rotary International started its PolioPlus Campaign in 1985, with the aim of ridding the world of polio. Since then, more than two billion children have been vaccinated and the number of countries where polio is endemic has declined from 125 to just four — so, in some ways, this is the final push.

Mr Macklin added: 'Immunisation against polio is vital; that is the only way to prevent it. It's a highly infectious virus for which there is no cure if contracted.

'We hope that people will come and support us in our campaign. Anyone interested in the work of Rotary is also welcome to come along and have a chat.

'We also raise a lot of money for local projects and have donated over £26,000 to local causes over the last five years.'