Rotary polio campaign still in the spotlight

Mount Gambier played host to an End Polio Now Walk last month when the city hosted the Rotary District 9780 Conference and that campaign will again be in the spotlight courtesy of a cycling duo from the South Launceston Rotary Club.

The 74-year-old Tasmanian Rotary members, Phil and Joyce Ogden, mounted their tandem bicycle to stage an epic fundraiser to support Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign, leaving Adelaide on April 3 and set to arrive in the Limestone Coast on April 8.

The dedicated couple, with 30 years of tandem cycling behind them, will travel approximately 3000km over eight weeks, visiting Rotary clubs and other community groups along the way, with Naracoorte, Mount Gambier, Hamilton and Portland all on the fundraising route.

A retired anaesthetist, Phil has witnessed the terrible legacy of the Polio epidemic of the fifties and the ongoing threat to children of the world until the Rotary inspired campaign worked its magic over the past 30-plus years.

They have been Rotary members for more than 10 years and are passionate supporters of the End Polio Now campaign.

The Ogden’s have planned and funded this entire trip with support from their Rotary Club of South Launceston.

“We feel that the enormous effort which has gone intoturning the tide of the disease will be lost if pressure and fund raising are not maintained until the disease is totally eradicated,” Phil said.

“If we take our collective eyes off the ball, the disease will re-establish. So, we are still committed to harnessing another of our passions, cycling, to push things along.”

Only two years ago did Phil and Joyce ride across the 1200 kms of the Nullarbor where water was only available at roadhouses along the way.

Dehydrated food was mailed ahead, and they had to carry food for a week and water for two days at a time.

Joyce and Phil have ridden tandems since 1993, covering an estimated 100,000km. They have enjoyed many ‘tandem adventures’ together by way of unsupported crossings of the European Alps, the Pyrenees and the Rockies – in addition to organised long-distance rides with Audax, culminating in a 600km ride over 36 hours.

The duo will be in Naracoorte on April 8; Mount Gambier on April 9; Hamilton on April 10 and Portland on April 15.

You can contribute to their fundraising campaign by heading to their fundraising page: https://raise.rotary.org/joyce+phil/challenge