Fundraising appeal for Nosy Crow's Ola Gotkowska reaches first target

A fundraising appeal launched to support Nosy Crow’s rights manager Ola Gotkowska, who was diagnosed with the degenerative illness Motor Neurone Disease earlier this year, has reached, and exceeded, its initial £31,000 target.

Supporters have pledged £31,260.81 (which will amount to £36,693.06 with gift aid contributions) to an appeal set up by Gotkowska’s partner, George Harris, who is raising money to help with the medication and treatment costs associated with Ola's disease.

Kate Wilson, Nosy Crow’s m.d., said: “Ola, George and all of us connected to this appeal, are so grateful to everyone who has contributed to meeting Ola’s initial fundraising target so quickly. We have been touched and often astonished by the generosity and messages from so many people in, and connected to, the book industry. It makes those of us who work in it very proud to be part of it.

“Ola has now started on a new medication, Edaravone, the cost of which represented a big part of the initial fundraising target. But the initial target covered just one year of treatment and therapy for Ola, and meanwhile, as Ola lives with this terrible illness, her needs change all the time: on a recent visit to family in Poland, for example, Ola found it useful to use a wheelchair for the first time. So we very much hope that we can raise more money for Ola, and hope we can continue to rely on the generosity of an industry that has already proved itself to be so caring.”

More information is available via the Virgin Money Giving page.