Rotary Club of East Maitland hosts End Polio Now Cocktail Party at Hinton

Held at Hinton School of Arts Hall on Friday, October 27, the event will raise money for Rotary's global effort to eradicate polio.

Currently, polio is active in just two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Rotary is pushing hard to get vaccine rates up to end it once and for all.

The Hinton event will feature a raffle with great prizes, a drink on arrival, a selection of hot and cold food and dessert.

Rotary Club of East Maitland foundation officer Glenda Briggs said the event will be a great way to meet new people, have fun and raise money for a good cause.

"[It'll be a] great night out, come and have fun" she said.

"The other thing is you're travelling from Maitland, of course you'll see more but bridge lit up in glorious red."

Visitors travelling from Maitland will see Morpeth Bridge lit up red for World Polio Day from Wednesday, October 24 to 27.

"It's not just about standing around and drinking, it's a Rotary activity so we get to have some fun activities during the night, some games and of course we're fundraising," Ms Briggs said.

"We've got some good raffle prizes coming in with donations of wine, food and experiences around town."

Ms Briggs said the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation matches every dollar donated to the global polio eradication effort with two dollars, so attendees $50 ticket turns into $150 donated.

"We don't have active polio cases now in Australia, but through the efforts of Rotary, we've got it down to only two countries," she said.

"This money will go directly into the Rotary contribution for End Polio Now Rotary International, and we work with local people on the ground to go out and vaccinate children.

"Pakistan and Afghanistan, they're the last two countries, and we've got it down to, in 2023, we're actually looking to see if we can stop [it], we're that close."

Ms Briggs said there are only 20 active polio cases in the world, and continued vaccinations will help make sure that number doesn't grow.

"At the moment, the number of cases are really low and the vaccination effort is really doing a big push this year to try and get to those areas where kids have not had the vaccine before or traditionally had vaccine refusal," she said.

The End Polio Now Cocktail Party is on Friday, October 27 at 8pm at Hinton School of Arts Hall. Get tickets ($50) at www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1125014.

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