When we first met, Anne had just returned to Scotland from a second spell working in East Jerusalem as a volunteer nurse. She enjoyed her time there and appreciated the warmth of the Palestinian people she met; they were generous and welcoming despite the often difficult circumstances they faced.

Anne was fired up by that experience and that was the beginning of our shared interest in what was happening to the Palestine people. That was over 30 years ago. Sadly, the lot of the Palestinians has not improved over that time and, in recent times, the suffering and destruction in Gaza has been awful to see. 

Both of us have retired from careers in the NHS and so we are particularly interested in the health and well-being of Palestinians. The UN's "Humanitarian Snapshot" on August 29th 2014 reported that more than 11,000 people in Gaza had been injured in the latest conflict. There were almost 1500 fatalities, 1/3 of whom were children. The violence and trauma that the surviving children in Gaza have experienced is likely to cast a long shadow over individual lives and over the life of the community. 

If you look at their website, you'll see that Medical Aid for Palestinians works continuously to make a difference to this situation. So the Cycle Challenge is an opportunity for us to support this vital work. Thanks for your interest and for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.