The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP) will take place for the 33rd time this year. The funds raised will be used to purchase specialist equipment for paediatric oncology and haematology. The campaign is held every year throughout Poland and abroad. Young and old people, organisations, companies and institutions get involved. The University of Lodz community also gets involved and supports the goal of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. Two initiatives of our students and their friends who have decided to create teams and operate on a larger scale are worth mentioning.
Heart made of gold coins by the Student Science Club "Inwestor"
The initiative, organised by students from the Student Science Club "Inwestor" at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, is already a tradition in Lodz that has gained fame throughout Poland. For 16 years, students have been creating a large golden heart made of coins together with the local community. There are people who collect coins all year long especially for this purpose and on the day of the finale they bring whole bags and jars filled to the brim with "grosze" (pennies). Last year, the heart was made of over 6.5 tons of coins, worth over PLN 100,000, and the total amount donated to the WOŚP Foundation during all editions of the "Let's Build a Heart Together" project is PLN 812,468.
The University of Lodz students have also organised a unique charity concert in cooperation with the Grazyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz University of Music in Lodz, which will take place a week before the main finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.
The members of the Student Science Club "Inwestor" staff have planned many additional attractions for the day of the finale – including joint gingerbread decorating, a 360-photo booth and a fair of decorations made using the decoupage technique during handicraft workshops. The students conducted them with the kids from Orphanage No. 6 in Lodz.
We invite everyone who wants to add their "few cents" and co-create the heart between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to the Manufaktura Shopping Centre (at the main entrance)
Visit the project fanpage to stay up to date with news on the project.
The University of Lodz Staff with hundreds of volunteers
This year, the University of Lodz Staff, co-created by students of our university, is also operating as part of WOŚP. As many as 375 of its volunteers will be collecting money with cans on the day of the campaign's finale, making it one of the largest staffs not only in Lodz, but in the entire voivodeship. It is made up of many students and employees of the University of Lodz, led by the university authorities: the University of Lodz Vice-Rector for Education, dr hab Małgorzata Wrzesień, Associate Professor of the University of Lodz, the University of Lodz Vice-Rector for Academic and External Relations dr hab. Radosław Olszewski, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz and the University of Lodz Vice-Rector for Popularisation of Science and Education dr hab. Krzysztof Pabis, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz.
In addition to the traditional street collection, the WOŚP University of Lodz Staff organises many initiatives to support the collection. There are numerous auctions on Allegro put up by the academic community. You can bid on, among other things, participation in workshops at the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, e.g. using one of the most modern microscopes in the world, unique images created using fluorescence microscopy, and the opportunity to name a new species of crustaceans.
The only collectible model of a white-tailed eagle made of LEGO bricks in the world, created especially for this occasion by Dr Michał Duda from the Faculty of Geographical Sciences is another item available on the auction site thanks to the University of Lodz Staff. It is made of 891 LEGO bricks, and its creation was inspired by a mural painting depicting a white-tailed eagle in flight, which was created in 2024 on the wall of one of the buildings of the Faculty of Geographical Sciences of the University of Lodz.
On the day of the Finale, i.e. 26 January 2025, stands of the student science clubs of the University of Lodz and the Medical University of Lodz will be displayed in the Port of Lodz, where you will be able to take part in chemical shows, perform basic research and try your hand at competitions with prizes.
In turn, Manufaktura Shopping Centre, on the weekend of 25-26 January, you will find a registration point for potential bone marrow donors, prepared in cooperation with DKMS.
Student Science Club for Eastern Asia and the Pacific from the Faculty of International and Political Studies also joins the activities of the University of Lodz staff and invites you to join language workshops for beginners on the basics of Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese on 23 January 2025.
The WOŚP University of Lodz Staff is also a partner of the WOŚP Charity Concert at the Wytwórnia Club organised by Mr. Tomasz Karauda.
We encourage you to visit the official profile of the WOŚP staff #6748 University of Lodz, for more details.
Source: Student Science Club "Inwestor" Staff, the University of Lodz Staff
Edit: Education and Student Affairs Centre, University of Lodz