A fundraising page set up following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox has raised more than £60,000 within hours of being launched.
The donations will be directed towards three charities chosen by Jo’s family which she supported or admired. They are the Royal Voluntary Service, a charity working to combat loneliness in her constituency, Hope Not Hate, which fight extremism and community divisions in Britain and The White Helmets, a volunteer and rescue workers group based in Syria.
The GoFundMe page says: “In celebration and memory of Jo Cox, we are raising funds to support charities closest to her heart, chosen by her family. Let us come together and give what we can to help create that world.”
One donator wrote on the page, “Any cause of Jo’s must be a good cause, please support it if you can.” Another wrote: “We won’t forget you Jo and the best way we can do that is to keep up the fight.”
The West Yorkshire MP was shot and stabbed yesterday outside a library where she was holding a constituency surgery. A 52-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.
She was the mother of two young children. Her husband Brendan said: “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.”
Politicians from across the political divide have paid tribute to her. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Jo was universally liked at Westminster, not just by her Labour colleagues, but across Parliament. In the coming days, there will be questions to answer about how and why she died. But for now all our thoughts are with Jo’s husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for.”
Prime Minister David Cameron offered his condolences to her family, describing her as “a committed and caring MP.”
