Fundraising appeal in memory of Jo Cox MP raises £400k in one day
Howard Lake | 18 June 2016 | News
A fundraising appeal set up in memory of Jo Cox MP, the Labour MP and former charity worker who was killed on Thursday, has raised over £400,000 in just 24 hours.
The appeal, Jo Cox’s Fund, was set up on crowdfunding site GoFundMe.com by family and friends of Mrs Cox “in celebration and memory” of her work and life. These include Nick Grono (CEO, The Freedom Fund), Tim Dixon (MD, Purpose), Mabel van Oranje (Chair, Girls Not Brides), and Gemma Mortensen (Chief Global Officer, Change.org). They have worked on it “in close collaboration with her husband Brendan Cox”.
The £400,000 total was made up of 13,674 donations.
The funds raised will be distributed among three charities “closest to her heart” and chosen by her family:
- The Royal Voluntary Service, to support volunteers helping combat loneliness in Jo’s constituency, Batley and Spen in West Yorkshire.
- HOPE not hate, who seek to challenge and defeat the politics of hate and extremism within local communities across Britain.
- The White Helmets, volunteer search and rescue workers in Syria. Unarmed and neutral, these heroes have saved more than 51,000 lives from under the rubble and bring hope to the region.
Before being elected last year MP for Batley and Spen, Cox worked for charities. She worked for NSPCC, and for Oxfam and Oxfam International from 2001 to 2009 where she was head of policy, and also ran the charity’s office in Brussels where she led the charity’s campaign for international trade reform.
She advised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and anti-slavery organisation The Freedom Fund. She supported many charities, and recently took part in the Parliamentary Tug of War in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
She was chair of the Labour Women’s Network, working to improve the chances for women to become MPs.
Her husband, Brendan Cox, previously worked for Save the Children.
He said hours after her death:
“Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people. She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.”
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The rapid response to the appeal has itself made headlines:
- Jo Cox death: GoFundMe fundraising page for charities supported by MP raises £200,000 in hours
- Jo Cox: Incredible fundraising effort in memory of murdered MP raises £150,000 in hours
- Fundraising campaign in memory of Jo Cox MP raises £100,000 in hours
What charities said about Jo Cox MP
Our thoughts are with Jo Cox MP and her family. https://t.co/kjtZW1uXBC
— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) June 16, 2016
Our heartfelt thoughts are with the family of Jo Cox. We're shocked and saddened by this horrific news. https://t.co/7o7RsIoe4F
— Save the Children UK (@savechildrenuk) June 16, 2016
Speaking on behalf of all at @NSPCC when I express my shock and sadness at the death of Jo Cox MP, a valued former work colleague.
— Peter Wanless (@PeterWanless) June 16, 2016
We’re deeply saddened to hear about Jo Cox. Jo was a valued supporter of Macmillan. We're sending our heartfelt condolences to her family.
— Macmillan Cancer Support (@macmillancancer) June 16, 2016
Deeply shocked by news about former Oxfam employee Jo Cox MP. @Mark_Goldring1 said… pic.twitter.com/Usyh1iEhFm
— Oxfam News Team (@oxfamgbpress) June 16, 2016
All @oxfamgb are devastated at the loss of our much loved and admired former @Oxfam colleague Jo Cox MP. Deep condolences to Jo's family
— Oxfam (@oxfamgb) June 16, 2016
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.