Fundraising raffle for Ukraine nears £30k target

A fundraising prize raffle backed by UK children’s book creators for families and children in Ukraine is nearing its target, just days before it closes.

BrightonDrawNotWar was originally set up by Brighton-based authors and illustrators and expanded to include creatives from across the UK, including Dapo Adeola, Steven Lenton, Nadia Shireen, Dame Jacqueline Wilson and Nick Sharratt. The fundraiser, which has surpassed £28,000, has received more than 200 contributions. It closes on 24th March with the aim of reaching £30,000 in total. 

Original artwork, signed prints and books have all been donated as prizes. 

Elsewhere, The Book Case in Hebden Bridge and The Book Corner in Halifax raised £1,200 between them last  weekend to support the people of Ukraine. 

"When we announced that we were going to donate 30% of our Saturday takings to Ukraine the response of our customers was amazing," said bookseller Kate Claughan. "We had people coming in through the week ordering long lists of books to collect on the day, customers ordering and paying for books in advance and some really generous purchases by our customers. We were overwhelmed by the amount we raised."

The money will be shared with the #packedwithhope campaign organised by Kevin Duffy at Bluemoose and Gracie Cooper from Little Toller to send books and essentials to refugee children, and Lumos, which is working inside Ukraine to rescue orphaned children and where the donation will be matched by J K Rowling. 

The rest will go to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal, where it will be matched by the government.