Volunteers have planted more than 16,000 crocus bulbs in two Banbury cemeteries as part of a campaign to raise awareness of efforts to eradicate polio.
Banbury Rotary Club members worked with Banbury Town Council at Hardwick Hill and Southam Road Cemeteries on Wednesday 21 October. The purple flowers are expected to bloom in spring 2027.
The council says the planting has become an annual project. Next spring’s display will also mark 40 years since Banbury Rotary Club began supporting the wider polio eradication effort in 1987.
Purple flowers carry a vaccination message
The crocuses form part of Rotary’s Purple4Polio activities. Their colour represents the purple dye used to mark a child’s little finger after receiving oral polio vaccine during mass immunisation campaigns.
Club president Mark Hughes said in the council’s announcement: “Banbury Rotary Club is proud to deliver this project each and every year. It’s thanks to our incredible volunteers that, come the Spring, the cemeteries are transformed into a blanket of purple.”
He thanked Banbury Town Council for its help and support, as Rotary clubs across the country plant crocuses in parks, cemeteries and other public spaces ahead of spring.
Councillor Shaida Hussain, chair of Banbury Town Council, said: “We’re excited to see that Banbury’s two main cemeteries have received thousands of crocus bulbs.”
She described the flowers as “a vibrant and poignant reminder of the continued global effort to eradicate polio” and thanked everyone who took part.
World Polio Day falls on 24 October
The planting took place ahead of World Polio Day on Saturday 24 October 2026, which highlights the continuing effort to end the disease.
Rotary’s involvement began with an immunisation project in the Philippines in 1979. Its international PolioPlus programme followed in 1985.
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the two countries where wild poliovirus is endemic. However, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s country reporting also records outbreaks of other poliovirus variants elsewhere, underlining why vaccination and surveillance remain important beyond those two countries.
Residents can find local council news and updates on the Banbury Town Council website.
