Polish “Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity” nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
25 years of WOŚP
The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity enjoys the greatest public confidence as an NGO in Poland.
It was founded in 1993 and since then, every year in early January, organises a huge fundraiser, which is called the Great Finale. The main initiator and executor of the annual WOŚP Finale is Jerzy Owsiak.
For the collected funds WOŚP buys and donates the most modern medical equipment to children’s hospitals in Poland.
Today the equipment purchased by the Orchestra of Christmas Charity is the basis of modern equipment of all hospitals which treat children in Poland. Within 24 years, the Foundation has collected and allocated more than 720 million zloty to support hospitals.
If WOŚP receives the Nobel Prize, it will be the second Nobel Peace Prize for Poles after Lech Wałęsa in 1983, the eighth in all categories, and the nineteenth for Polish born persons.
Yesterday we have been gobsmacked by the message that our nomination has been successfully submitted to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. The news found us in the midst of post-fundraiser frenzy.
"We see it as a massive honour and distinction, not only for us as a non-governmental organization, but for everyone involved in our activities: we would like to take this amazing chance to thank our brilliant volunteers, benefactors, people organizing the Collection Centres locally, and communities, which rally around the cause turning the day of the fundraiser into an amazing holiday. This humbling nomination comes the year we celebrate our 25th anniversary. It means that for 25 years we have been working to unite people with one common goal of helping others. We aim to work even harder to make sure that we continue to support medicine in Poland by purchasing equipment and financing medical programmes for paediatric wards and making sure that the oldest patients receive medical care in dignified environment and with access to the best equipment and treatment.
We have never dreamed of such an honour, because the prize is awarded to organizations which often inspire our activities and individuals we often look up to. The strength of their convictions and tireless work to transform the world for the better is a source of inspiration to countless people around the world, so it is an amazing honour to be able to say that we can join in their ranks. "