Walking for Palestinian Children

I have wanted to walk the Two Moors Way for many years as it passes within a mile of my home in mid-Devon, and this year, my 50th year, I decided was the time to do it. The Two Moors Way is a long-distance trail that cuts across the heart of Devon, linking Dartmoor and Exmoor and has been extended to become a Devon Coast-to-Coast trail. It starts in Wembury on the south coast and finishes in Lynmouth on the north coast and is 172km (107 miles) long. My son Theo (12, soon to turn 13), dog Leila and Theo's dad Paul, joined me on the first two legs in June (before you reach Dartmoor proper) and they decided they wanted to do the whole walk too.

Around the same time, I was doing a piece of work for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) supporting their work in schools in refugee camps in Lebanon together with my Palestinian friend and colleague Ayman. Ayman has already lost numerous family members in the conflict in Gaza and has been campaigning tirelessly to raise awareness of the horrific genocide unfolding in Gaza.

I told Theo Ayman's story and about the work I was doing for UNRWA in Lebanon and we decided to use the Two Moors Way walk to raise money for immediate humanitarian aid for the tens of thousands of Palestinian children whose lives continue to be devastated by the ongoing war in Gaza. A war that has destroyed their childhood and their future.

I wanted to illustrate the enormity of this atrocity by adding some statistics but it is difficult to include numbers because they are so staggering and continue to grow all the time. In March this year the UN reported that the number of children killed in Gaza is higher than in four years of world conflict. More than 14,000 children have been killed since the start, according to the latest estimate by the Palestinian Ministry of Health; thousands more have been injured, or have disappeared, lost to their families. Currently more than 50,000 children require urgent medical treatment for malnutrition and all of Gaza’s children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime.

All of this feels unbelievably surreal and remote as we walk healthy and free across the wild Dartmoor landscape and green rolling hills of Devon, and yet this is what I have chosen to meditate on as I walk, so grateful for my son's hand in mine.

The organisation that Theo and I have chosen to raise funds for is the Palestine Children Relief Fund. PCRF is the primary humanitarian organization in Palestine, delivering crucial and life-saving medical relief and humanitarian aid to children and their families where it is needed most. Watch their video from their 'Urgent Relief for Gaza's Children' campaign below and then please donate whatever you feel able.

Theo and I will keep you updated on our progress on the Two Moors Way. We plan to walk it in day trips and weekend trips throughout 2024. Last Saturday we completed the first 12 mile stretch across Dartmoor from IvyBridge to Scorriton in drizzly damp British summer weather! We plan to do the next leg in a couple of weeks time. This is Theo's first fundraising experience and will be his first long distance path once completed so two big achievements!

All the money raised will go directly to PCRF and I will be transferring the money on a monthly basis so they don't have to wait for us to complete the walk to use the much needed funds. Please help us reach our target.