Passport for my Albanian dad

The picture above is of my dad, Sokol, goofing around in my jeans. Despite his playful stance, a few months prior to this his older brother had died of a heart attack, the year before his dad had died of a similar nature. In both instances he was unable to attend the funeral with his family, say goodbye or even grieve. His mum now lives alone and calls him on a regular basis to ask him when he will be back home. She is 80 years old. His whole family live in Albania, and due to a reason as simple as an expired passport he has been unable to see them for almost 18 years.

I have emailed the Albanian embassy on his behalf and the cost to transfer his leave of remain document into a new passport is £1440. Otherwise, he cannot leave the country. My dad and I have a complex relationship, but he has never failed to financially provide for my sister, my mum and I, but for this reason he has never been able to afford a new passport. I cannot imagine the pain he must feel of having not seen his mum in 18 years, and never getting a chance to see his Dad or brother again or even to say goodbye.

To raise money, I will be posting videos on TikTok to raise awareness with the main challenge to walk from Dartford to Hyde Park. This is a 6 hour and 30 minute walk at over 17 miles and any money raised from sponsors will go directly to pay for my dads passport. Any money, no matter the amount, means the world.