WHEN polio is eventually eradicated it will be a particularly sweet success for Billericay Rotary Club member Peter Strong, who has a very personal connection to the cause.
Mr Strong survived the disease after contracting it himself in the late 1950s, although his mother was not so lucky.
The 67-year-old said: "In 1958 my mother and I had polio.
"I was 12 and we were on a summer holiday in Dublin for a fortnight. I remember my father telling me they flew out an iron lung from Birmingham to Dublin but it didn't save her.
"Within the two weeks my mother had died aged just 42, but I survived."
He added: "I remember the foul medicine they gave me.
"The next term at school, all pupils would get the vaccination and I had it as well, even though I had already had polio.
"I got polio in Billericay as there was an epidemic that year.
"Everything changed after my mother died. My little brother was sent to boarding school and it completely changed our lives."
The Billericay Rotary Club's polio initiative was launched by Dr Chandra Gupta in 1987, following the launch of the movement's international campaign two years earlier.
Since then the club has campaigned, fund raised and donated in an bid to reach their ultimate goal – the global eradication of the disease.
To date, the Billericay Rotary Club has raised in their bid to eradicate polio, while Rotary globally has collected.
Mr Strong said: "The Rotary Club's campaign is terrific and I was always keen to help.
"We hold many events for the public and for nine years we have held Music in the Garden in Little Burstead and many other events including casino evenings.
"All these funds go to Rotary International which are then donated directly to the Global Polio Initiative.
He added: "On top of fundraising at events all of our subs which are £50 per member per month go towards the total.
Mr Strong, who is a retired architect has been a member of the Billericay Rotary Club since 1972, said eradicating the disease had not always been easy.
"Polio remains in three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan," he said.
"One of the saddest things is that in Nigeria, women are given misleading advice that if they have the polio vaccination they won't be able to have children.
"To be able to say that polio has been eradicated, there has to have been three years on the trot with no outbreaks, so we are not quite there because of the two or three hundred cases in these countries.
"Two months ago, six young student volunteers who had gone out to administer the vaccine to children in Pakistan were gunned down and nobody was spared – it's incredibly sad."
Rotarian and Billericay GP Dr Gupta remembers starting the polio initiative for the club 24 years ago.
He said: "I invited club members for curry evenings at my house and the contributions we made went to the charity.
"The donations were just a dribble to begin with but it soon built up. As a small club, we saw we could raise money to help this cause."
Mr Strong added: "If you've ever seen someone with polio you realise what a terrible, crippling disease it is. If they survive it causes withered arms and limbs – it destroys lives. Our work towards the eradication of polio is about children and their future.
"We saw that it could be dealt with by proper attention and financial backing.
"The Rotary Club's campaign to eradicate polio was very slow to start with and our club gave this part of the country a kick-start.
"We made people aware of the disease and although it seemed an insurmountable task we got the ball rolling and 27 years on, we're nearly there."
Club vice-president Keith Wood added: "A lot of people don't understand that we are instrumental in getting rid of polio worldwide."
Three years ago the Rotary distributed purple crocuses in Lake Meadows in the children's garden to raise people's awareness of the disease.
Billericay Rotary Club member Trevor Bond said: "The fact that the flowers were planted in the children's play area is particularly significant.
"The Rotary Club, through donations, charity fundraising and events has matched Bill and Melinda Gates' $220 million donation to eradicate polio on this planet. In one day, thanks to Rotary, 134 million people in India were immunised.
"Currently, statistics for the World Polio Virus show that the number of new cases continues to reduce.
"Rotary contributes millions to aid famine, water relief, shelter boxes, tsunamis and earthquakes.
"We do not seek recognition for those but we will not rest until polio is eradicated forever."
