Pretty in purple for polio awareness

​St James Church is set to be lit up to be lit up in purple once again next week to raise awareness of a life-saving national campaign.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Mar 2024, 16:00 BST
Updated 5th Mar 2024, 10:24 BST
St James Church lit up in purple for polio. Photo: Paul Rudd, Louth.St James Church lit up in purple for polio. Photo: Paul Rudd, Louth.
St James Church lit up in purple for polio. Photo: Paul Rudd, Louth.

The floodlights at St James Church have been replaced with 50 new LED units to improve the lighting of this famous building and reduce the church’s carbon footprint, overseen by GRS Electrical Services Ltd.

Not only are the new lights colour changeable and easily programmed via the manufacturer’s app on an iPad, they will save the church an estimated 75 percent on electricity bills.

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“It has been a challenge, but we are very pleased with the outcome and the scope it gives to support various charities by changing the light colours throughout the year,” said St James Church treasurer Robert Haynes, “Our thanks go to Dan Bellamy and the engineers at GRS who have done a great job.

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“Our biggest thanks go to all the donors who ‘bought a light’, some in memory of loved ones, and we will be putting up a ‘thank you’ board in St James in due course.”

Putting the new colour changeable lights to good use, ​Louth Rotary Club and Friends of St James have teamed up to light up St James Church in purple next week from Monday (March 11) to recognise Louth Rotary’s involvement in the international End Polio Now project.

Rotary International launched Polio Plus in 1985, when there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries, and since then has helped immunise 3billion children against polio, and today there are just a small number of cases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the aim of eradicating the disease fully by 2026.

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The colour purple represents the purple dye which is put on the wrists of children in undeveloped countries to show that they have been vaccinated against polio, part of the Rotary’s pledge to help eradicate polio in third-world countries.

Every year, Louth Rotary plant 4,000 purple crocus corms around town, including the junction of Church Street/Kidgate, the north side of St. James, London Road near the cemetery, Spout Yard community centre, and the Railway Embankment on Wood Lane.They also sponsor the purple floodlighting of St. James on October 24 and work alongside Sarah Parker during November for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness.