Poland’s biggest charity fundraiser again breaks record

Poles have defied the current cost-of-living crisis to donate more than ever to their country’s biggest annual charity fundraiser, which received over 154 million zloty (€32.7 million) in donations during yesterday’s finale.

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP), which was first held in 1993, sees around 120,000 volunteers in Poland and abroad collecting donations. Many also organise fundraising events while celebrities offer items for auction.

Among this year’s offerings are the racket used by women’s tennis world number 1 Iga Świątek when she won the French and US Opens in 2022. The star will also invite the auction winner to this year’s French Open and meet them in person. Bidding is currently at 260,300 zloty (€55,280).

Just after midnight last night, WOŚP announced that it had raised 154,606,764 zloty in total so far, beating last year’s figure of around 136 million zloty. The final amount, which is announced in the spring, will be even higher once all collections and auctions have been completed. Last year’s final total was around 224 million zloty.

The money collected by WOŚP is used primarily to buy equipment for Poland’s healthcare system. This year’s focus is on fighting sepsis. Since its launch 30 years ago, WOŚP has raised a total of over 1.75 billion zloty, which has been used to purchase over 70,000 pieces of equipment for hospitals.

Despite this, WOŚP is not popular among some Polish conservatives, who dislike the secular, liberal values of its founder, Jerzy Owsiak, and have accused him and his family of benefiting financially from the event.

In 2021, WOŚP drew controversy by allying itself with the Women’s Strike movement that has led protests against a near-total abortion ban that was introduced that year with the backing of the ruling national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.

This year, liberal news outlet Onet reported that journalists from Polska Press – a media organisation recently taken over by state oil firm Orlen – had been ordered to provide only minimal coverage of WOŚP.

Owsiak appealed to Polska Press’ staff to ignore any such request, saying it would be “shameful”, an “embarrassment” and the “darkest day in your journalistic careers” if they complied.

However, Polska Press’ chief editor, Dorota Kania denied Onet’s reporting. Because “WOŚP did not ask Polska Press for patronage or partnership in this event”, her organisation would simply report information about the event, as it would any other, tweeted Kania.

Main image credit: Cezary Aszkielowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.