This charity appeal film was printed onto the professional 35mm film gauge, the standard for motion pictures and cinema projection at the time, although it was probably originally shot on 16mm film and blown up for distribution in cinemas. The film was married with a sound track later and some picture sequences are allowed to run too fast to match the commentary. It was shot by G.R. Davison, who may have been a student, but there is also the possibility he was a professional freelancer in...

This charity appeal film was printed onto the professional 35mm film gauge, the standard for motion pictures and cinema projection at the time, although it was probably originally shot on 16mm film and blown up for distribution in cinemas. The film was married with a sound track later and some picture sequences are allowed to run too fast to match the commentary.

It was shot by G.R. Davison, who may have been a student, but there is also the possibility he was a professional freelancer in the region or on the King’s College technical team. The name is credited on two other films held at NEFA, the commissioned appeal film Wayside  (1952) and the home movie The Stoutts and their Friends (1954-1956).                       

Narrated by journalist, author and BBC cricket commentator, John Arlott who was known for his poetic phraseology, the film was produced by King’s College, Newcastle (now the University of Newcastle) for their annual RAG week appeal. RAG or ‘Raising and Giving’ weeks have been around since the 19th century, with medical students originally being the most prominent fundraisers. Traditionally, universities held their own RAG weeks, with various outlandish fundraising activities taking place over seven days and the production of ‘RAG mags’; often rude and humorous booklets.

For some, the term ‘RAG’ has negative connotations of raucous students causing drunken havoc throughout university towns, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s where it was mostly about getting drunk. Today's RAG fundraisers believe that to be an outdated view, though because of this reputation some universities no longer call their fundraising activity RAG. Durham now refers to its fundraising as Durham University Charity Committee (or DUCK) due to incidents in the 1980s involving students breaking into a prison to leave a note on the governor's desk! (1)

The most popular fundraising activity is called ‘Jailbreak,’ which challenges students to get as far away from their university as possible in 36 hours without spending any money on transport, instead relying on their powers of persuasion by hitchhiking and blagging. Two Durham students once ended up in Sydney, Australia, after guessing the email address of Richard Branson, who was impressed enough with their initiative to offer them return flights at no cost. (1) Other popular activities include blind dates, throwing parties, skydives, mountain climbs, firework displays and assault courses, but the spirit of RAG is to do whatever you want, just so long as you are sponsored. The Independent estimated that student-run university organisations raised between £6m and £9m for charity in 2011. (1)

In 1954, 3000 students at Kings College aimed to raise £12,000 for polio. The film shows their fundraising efforts, including a float parade, staged dance performances, comedy sketches, traditional North East sword dancing, street side shows and tin collection by knocking on doors and on pavements. Thanks to the proceeds of the King’s College RAG appeal, some £13,500 was raised (an amazing sum at the time) which enabled them to purchase a house in Jesmond, Newcastle, and convert it into a hostel and training centre for 15-20 Polio sufferers to live in.

Polio is a viral infection that used to be common in the UK and worldwide, though it is now all but eradicated as it can be prevented with vaccination. Cases of polio in the UK fell dramatically when routine vaccination was introduced in the mid-1950s and there has been no reported case since the mid-1980s. Most people with polio will not have any symptoms and likely won’t even know they've been infected. For some people, the polio virus causes temporary or permanent paralysis, which can be life threatening. The paralysis or weakness most often effects the legs, which necessitates the need for a splint like the ones shown in the film to support the leg muscles. Polio can also, but less commonly, involve the muscles of the head, neck and diaphragm. (2)

Polio has existed for thousands of years, but it was first recognized as a condition in the 18th century, and first understood to be caused by a virus in 1908. Major outbreaks occurred during the 19th century in Europe and the United States, and by the 20th century it was one of the most concerning infant and childhood diseases in these areas. The first polio vaccine was developed in the 1950s by Jonas Salk. (3)

During the Second World War, Joseph Fisher from Gosforth contracted polio in Burma while serving in the British Army. He returned to London to receive treatment and began attending meetings with the Infantile Paralysis Fellowship. After moving back to Newcastle, the Fellowship asked Fisher if he would set up a branch in the North East. With the help of the £13,500 donation by the King’s College RAG, Fisher bought and renovated the house in Jesmond, bringing in people from all over to live at the purpose-built hostel and training centre, with the intention of teaching them a trade. Fisher said it was “carrying on what I had always believed which is that these people were employable … They lived in a house all together, they worked and earned a living wage, part of which they gave back to us so they felt that they were contributing …I gave them back their self esteem.” Doctors came from all over Europe to witness and learn from what Fisher and his small team of dedicated volunteers were doing for polio sufferers in Newcastle, with his revolutionary approach being replicated abroad in the years that followed. In 2015, Fisher was awarded an MBE in recognition of his services to helping the lives of polio sufferers. (4) (5)

Around 1950, at the age of 7, English singer-songwriter and actor Ian Dury contracted polio, most likely, he believed, from a swimming pool during the 1949 polio epidemic. Dury would’ve been around the same age as the children shown in the film when he was receiving treatment at a specialist facility like the one the King’s College RAG were fundraising for. His illness resulted in the paralysis and withering of his left leg, shoulder and arm, for which he used a walking stick throughout his adult life, visible in countless Ian Dury and the Blockheads promo photographs.

Dury caused outrage in 1981 with his song ‘Spasticus Autisticus’ which he wrote as a disdainful reaction to that year’s International Year of Disabled Persons, which he believed to be patronising. The song was banned by the BBC, but more recently has been reclaimed by the disability community, being performed live by Orbital and the Graeae Theatre Company at the opening ceremony of the 2012 summer Paralympics. Sick of being constantly asked to act as patron for charitable causes, Dury wrote ‘Spasticus Autisticus’ as an ‘anti-charity’ song. The lyrics were both a protest and a cry for understanding:

“So place your hard-earned peanuts in my tin,

And thank the Creator you're not in the state I'm in,

So long have I been languished on the shelf,

I must give all proceedings to myself.” (6)

References:

(1) Bad behaviour that's all in a good cause: Students are carrying on the RAG tradition - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/bad-behaviour-thats-all-in-a-good-cause-students-are-carrying-on-the-rag-tradition-6298083.html

(2) Polio - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/polio/

(3) Fear of Polio in the 1950s - http://www.plosin.com/beatbegins/projects/sokol.html  

(4) World War Two veteran who dedicated his life to helping polio sufferers to receive MBE - https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/world-war-two-veteran-who-8375457

(5) Film review: 'Every Last Child' - https://postpolioproblemadediscapacidad.blogspot.com/2015_02_10_archive.html

(6) Ian Dury - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Dury