Fundraising for my amazing cousin Billie, her husband Abed and his family in Gaza.

This September, my friend Kit and I are taking on a sprint triathlon to help raise urgent funds for my cousin Billie, her husband Abed, and their family in Gaza and Egypt. The triathlon is on Sunday, 7th September, and as two friends who haven't done much training yet, every donation will push us one step closer to finishing it!

Abed is a Palestinian refugee who grew up in Gaza, where most of his family still lives. Over the past year, the horrors they’ve experienced are hard to put into words. On 31 October 2023, an Israeli airstrike hit Abed’s brother’s home, killing Samer, Lobna, and their four young children: Mohammed, Layan, Jad, and Zain. They were a beautiful, kind family. The children were bright, hopeful, and had dreams of a future beyond Gaza. They had done nothing wrong and were simply in their home, trying to stay safe.

Since then, Billie and Abed have been trying to support the rest of their family, both in Gaza, where they face unimaginable daily hardships, and in Egypt, where they are living, where Abed’s brother, Izzeddin, managed to escape. They’ve been helping him recover while applying for visas to get him to safety, but the process is brutally expensive and full of dead ends. Every application costs hundreds of pounds, and rejection after rejection takes a serious toll.

At the same time, they are still sending support to their family trapped in Gaza. Food is scarce and wildly expensive (the last time they found flour, it cost £65/kg), and access to clean water is almost impossible. Every donation has a direct impact and helps people survive.

So we're raising funds for:

Visa/legal support for Abed’s brother

Emergency supplies for their family still in Gaza

And in memory of Samer, Lobna, Mohammed, Layan, Jad and Zain, who should still be here.

We know times are hard, but anything you can give, even the price of a coffee, will genuinely make a difference. The money will go directly to his family.

Thank you for reading, donating, and standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Rose + Kit ♥️