REDBRIDGE Rotarians marched in the London New Year's Day parade in a bid to highlight the Rotary Club's campaign to end polio throughout the world.

A total of 40 members from London took part, led by Redbridge Rotarian and Rotary in London District Governor Martin Gudde.

Mr Gudde, 65, of Lessingham Avenue, Clayhall, director of an IT company, said: "The atmosphere was amazing.

"There were thousands of people lining the streets and it was a beautiful day, even though it was bitterly cold."

He added: “It was a fantastic day. The whole of the Rotary District was represented.

“What we're trying to do this year is raise £1million to go towards eradicating polio throughout the world.

“It's still endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and and Nigeria.”

The Rotary Club has been working with UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) , as well as the Centre for Disease Control to try to tackle the problem.

Mr Gudde said: “It was the Rotary Club that started it in 1985. Without Rotary's help, the world would be 20 years behind.”

To mark its 105th birthday, the Rotary Club is also launching its “Purple Pinkie” campaign this year – so called because every child immunised against polio is given a purple mark on his or her little finger.

Primary school children will be invited to donate £1 to help pay for vaccines and charity collections will also take place in Tesco and Sainsbury's stores.

It will also be the 25th year the Rotary Club has been involved in the campaign to end polio.

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, has also donated $355million to the cause.

The parade wound its way through the City of Westminster and Rotarians wore special yellow t-shirts, as well as being accompanied by a minibus decked out in posters and purple ribbons as part of the "Purple Pinkie" campaign.

They marched in Waltham Forest's entry, while Redbridge's entry included jive band Jive Aces, as well as boy scouts, a steel pan band, and a performance from the USA-based Universal Cheerleaders Association.

Entrants competed for cash donations to be made to designated charities and Redbridge came seventh, winning £1,500 to go to the Redbridge branch of the Alzheimer's Society and the Redbridge Business Education Partnership.

The entry was organised by Redbridge mayor Cllr Thomas Chan.

Cllr Chan said: "We had about 80 people in our entry.

"Jive Aces were performing 30s-style music and there were street dancers performing as well.

"The idea was to entertain the public."