DESPITE THE COVID, PEOPLE CAME TO SUPPORT A GOOD CAUSE. CHRISTMAS IN ST. WENCESLAS BROUGHT OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION CROWNS TO NON-PROFITS.

During the four weeks of Advent, seven non-profit organizations presented themselves at the craft booths of the tenth annual Wenceslas Christmas. The total proceeds from the traditional Christmas market in the upper part of Wenceslas Square this year exceeded two hundred and eighty thousand crowns.

“We are pleased that this year, despite the complications caused by the spread of the epidemic, we finally managed to open Wenceslas Christmas, as one of the few Christmas markets in Prague, to visitors. Advent markets on Wenceslas Square are not only a long-standing tradition. For the tenth year, they have given local non-profit organisations the opportunity to present their activities to the public and raise money by selling handmade products from sheltered workshops and other establishments,” says Monika Vlková, project manager of the Association of the New Town of Prague, which organises Wenceslas Christmas every year.

Seven non-profit organizations set up craft booths during the tenth annual Advent Market. In addition to the Protected Inspiration Workshop of the Girls’ Catholic High School, the organization LIFE 90 supporting lonely seniors and senior women, and the Protected Ceramic Workshop Řásnovka, which have appeared at the Christmas and Easter markets on Wenceslas Square in previous years, this year’s event welcomed for the first time the non-profit organisation Mezi námi, the ŽAP Club for women with cancer, the society for normal life of people with disabilities POHODA and the DUHA Society providing social services to adults with mental disabilities.

“Thanks to the support of the Association of the New Town of Prague, we were given the opportunity to participate in this year’s Christmas market on Wenceslas Square. It is a great help for us because we could present our products from the Pohoda Workshop, the Pohoda Residential Home and the Bílá crow social enterprise to a wider range of customers. Above all, we had the opportunity to share information with the public about the activities of our organisation and the Bílá vrána enterprise, which has long employed people with mental disabilities,” fundraiser from POHODA – Society for Normal Life of People with Disabilities, z. ú.

“We are very happy that despite the uncertainties that accompanied this year’s Wenceslas Christmas, we did not hesitate for a minute when offered to be part of the “Support the Good” project for the first time. The overall result was an even bigger surprise for us. Despite the measures against the spread of the epidemic, and thus significantly lower attendance, people supported us with a total of over 52,000 crowns in 5 days of sales. But what pleased us most was the chance to bring the visitors closer to the DUHA Society and the social enterprise Duhová prádelna,” explains Věra Frühaufová, Head of Fundraising and PR at the DUHA Society.

Over the past ten years, the total proceeds of the “Support the Good” project at the Christmas and Easter markets on Wenceslas Square amounted to almost CZK 2.4 million.