FORTUNE, they say, favours the brave. And so it proved for Nigel Dyson.

Nigel has been a member of the Rotary club for about 30 years and throughout that time the organisation has worked to eradicate the life-threatening and life-limiting disease polio.

Back in 1985 when the campaign started, polio was prevalent in 125 countries across the world. More than 1,000 children contracted the illness every day.

Since then, Rotarians have systematically gone from country to country immunising children in the ambition of wiping out the illness.

They have had astonishing success given the scale of the task.

Today, there are only 37 known cases of polio worldwide and it is only known to exist in three countries - Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But until those countries are clear of the disease, the campaign, Purple 4 Polio will continue.

The cost of the vaccine is relatively cheap - £1 will provide the oral Polio vaccine for more than five children.

Getting to the far flung corners of Afghanistan and Nigeria, however, is not so easy.

While many of those taking part in the programme are volunteers, money is still needed to pay for the vaccine and getting it to where it needs to be. And that is where Nigel, his boldness and a simple but brilliant idea came in.

Back in 2003, a genius fundraising idea was launched involving marmalade.

The idea was to swap jars of marmalade for donations and the eventually empty jars would be filled with coins. The funds went towards Rotary projects.

So when Nigel sat down to think about how to raise money to eradicate polio once and for all, he remembered the marmalade fundraiser.

Nigel had worked with Wilkin and Sons, the world-famous and royally accredited jam makers, when he organised the Marks Hall Garden and Country Show.

He decided to try his luck and see if Wilkin and Sons might help with his mission.

“We were getting so close to finishing off the campaign to eradicate polio and the call came in from Rotary. We needed to raise more money.

“One of our members, Ray Dias, started collecting coins in jam jars. I thought we could do more with this and I went to see Wilkin and Sons. We had worked closely together for the show and they had been really helpful.

“In our district,which covers most of Essex, there are about 1,500 members.

“I said perhaps they might give us 1,500 jars of jam which we could put a special label on and get our members to collect pennies and coins in the jar.

“Then, almost tongue in cheek, I said to the director ‘You might like to do it for all the Rotary members in Great Britain and Ireland. That would be more than 50,000.

“You have to put your foot in and test the water. They said they would.”

So Wilkin and Sons is preparing 52,000 specially produced jars of jam which will be distributed through Rotary’s national network to all its members across the country.

Nigel, who lives in Little Bentley and is a member of the Kelvedon and District Rotary Club, said: “We are asking for a minimum donation of £2 for each jar. Then, once the jam is eaten, we are asking members to fill the empty jar with coins.”

By Nigel’s calculations, that could total in excess of £1 million.

With Gift Aid, the total would be boosted and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, long-time supporters of the campaign, has said it will double match fund any money raised.

In total, Nigel hopes the project will raise £3 million.

“It is an awful lot of money,” he said, “but I think it can be done.”

The campaign to eradicate polio is now tantalisingly close to success.

Nigel said: “We would be thrilled to be able to get rid of polio forever but for that we have to access every child to immunise them. In countries like Afghanistan, where there are wars, it is not easy.”

But, as Nigel is living proof, fortune favours the brave.

  • The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by national governments, Rotary International, the World Health Organisation, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Unicef and is supported by key partners including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus which initially affects the gut and then spreads to the nervous system.

It mainly affected children aged under five years old and one in 200 cases develop paralysis. In a small number of cases, the breathing muscles may stop functioning, leading to death.

There is no cure for polio but it can be prevented with a vaccine squeezed into the mouth.

Once children are immunised, their little finger is pressed on to a purple ink pad to show they have been immunised. 
It is from this practice, the title of Rotary’s initiative, Purple 4 Polio, was born.

The Gazette is supporting the campaign. To find out more about the campaign or the Purple 4 Polio jam jar fundraiser, contact Nigel Dyson on nigel@garden-shows.com.