AS the vision of a polio-free world edges closer to becoming a reality, Sidmouth Rotarians are hoping Herald readers will help eradicate the crippling disease.

AS the vision of a polio-free world edges closer to becoming a reality, Sidmouth Rotarians are hoping Herald readers will help eradicate the crippling disease.

Younger readers will be unfamiliar with the horrors of Polio, but it was once a common childhood disease in the UK - causing fever, fatigue and headaches followed by permanent paralysis. Thousands of polio victims were left confined to "iron lungs" in the 1940s and 50s. The huge metal cylinders regulated their breathing and kept them alive during the UK polio epidemic 50 years ago.

While references to Polio may only crop up during history lessons for our children, for youngsters in developing countries, mostly India and Nigeria, the disease is still a deadly threat.

The Rotary Clubs of Sidmouth and Sid Valley have joined forces to raise funds for 'Polio Plus', an international programme to eliminate the disease which continues to infect and paralyse children.

The Presidents of the Sidmouth Rotary Clubs, David Cooper and Peter Brookes, said: "One of the greatest gifts we could give to the children of the world is the complete eradication of polio. Remember, every polio victim is someone's child"."

The challenge for Rotary worldwide is to raise $200,000,000 to match, in part, the donations of $355,000,000 pledged by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Sidmouth Rotarians aim to raise �2,000 by the end of May, to be added to the �10.5million already raised by members in Great Britain and Ireland to fund polio immunization initiatives.

To donate to the campaign visit : www.justgiving.com/rotaryclubsidmouth