I am taking part in the Big Ride for Palestine 2025 to support the Gaza Sunbirds Paracycling team. I'll be cycling our round trip from Birmingham to Coventry and back linking two major midlands cities, a distance of 44 miles. This is the length of the total perimeter of blockaded Gaza.

The Gaza Sunbirds are a team of para-athletes based in the Gaza Strip. The team was founded by Alaa al-Dali, an Olympic hopeful cyclist, after he was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper in 2018, whilst watching the March of Return. Alaa's leg was amputated from below the knee, but he did not give up his dream, and channeled his energies into establishing an amputee cycling team within Gaza — called the Gaza Sunbirds, with the hope that they would defy the odds to compete in Paris 2024.

Alaa was evacuated in April 2024 and went on to make a historic debut, competing for Palestine in the 2024 Paracycling road World Championships in Zurich. The Sunbirds have nothing like the resources and training facilities compared to other nations.

For the last two years, as the bombing, shooting and starvation continues to devastate people's lives, the Gaza Sunbirds have been using their bikes to distribute aid to their communities. I am fundraising to support the Gaza Sunbirds to continue their mission in delivering aid and to represent Palestine on a global stage.