OCTOBER 2026

ONE DAY. ONE FOCUS. ENDING POLIO.

West Kirby Rotary Club MARKS WORLD POLIO DAY, 24TH OCTOBER 2026

West Kirby Rotary Club will be one of thousands of Rotary clubs across the
world taking action on World Polio Day to raise awareness, funds and support
to end polio. This vaccine preventable disease still threatens children in parts
of the world today.
If polio is not eradicated, it is estimated that, within 10 years, as many as
200,000 children annually all over the world could succumb to polio, including
here in UK.
Many polio related activities will be using the colour purple, which has
become a symbolic colour in the fight against polio, inspired by the colour of
the dye painted on the little finger of a child to signify they have received a
potentially life-saving polio vaccine.
At West Kirby Rotary Club, we are doing our bit to raise awareness by lighting
up Rotary Corner in purple for the week. The club has also sponsored a
flower bed in the area and an End Polio plaque can be seen on the wall at
Rotary Corner. The area is tended by West Kirby in Bloom with purple
crocuses and purple flowers to help raise awareness of the campaign
throughout the year.
Leila Goodchild, President of West Kirby Rotary Club commented, “We’re
proud to be marking World Polio Day locally and recognising the work of
Rotary and our partners and the millions of people involved in so many ways
in the fight for a polio free world. Only together can we end polio, a virus that
is still potentially just a plane ride away.”
You can join in too and help us raise funds for this great cause. Your donation
helps Rotary and its partners reach every child with the polio vaccine. Thanks
to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, your contribution will be tripled,
getting us even closer to a polio free world. Please donate now
at http://www.endpolio.org/donate

 

SEPTEMBER 2025

West Kirby Rotary Club meets Dr Who! 

What a brilliant day we had helping at The Dr Who Convention in West Kirby.
After a fantastic sell out event in 2024, the team were back with another
spectacular event and we were delighted to be asked to assist again.
The events took place in Westbourne Hall, (where we hold our meetings) on
26th – 27th September and it proved to be an exceptional weekend. There were
stars from different eras of Doctor Who, panels – with hosts including Robin
Ince, Frazer Hines – autographs, photos, auctions and more!
We ran the bar as well as serving tea, coffee, home-made cake and cooking up
the extremely popular bacon butties! Takings from this amounted to £700
which will go to support the work of Wirral Ark, our local charity for the
homeless. In addition, the organisers of the event, which was not for profit,
raised over £2500 for their chosen charity, MIND. All this whilst having so
much fun!
We met some lovely people (and aliens!) including celebrity, fans and
organisers – take a look at some of the photos of the day and you will see what
we mean!
Club President David Kendall (aka bacon butty maker extraordinaire!) said:
“Doctor Who conventions, which are held around the world, represent
significant opportunities for community engagement and celebration of this
enduring science fiction series.
Importantly, the charity ethos behind this event, organised by Erica and her
team who are friends of our club, fitted perfectly with our own values of fun,
friendship and fundraising. We very much look forward to th