Preston father and daughter joined Guild Wheel cycle ride for Palestine

Participants of the FOA solidarity ride. Pic: Adam Sayid

Adam Sayid and his 14-year-old daughter, Siyana, cycled the 21-mile Guild Wheel to raise money for people in Gaza.

Their charity of choice was FOA (Friends of Al-Aqsa) who have been campaigning for 27 years to help the people of Palestine and organised a Solidarity Ride for Palestine.

Adam Sayid said: “Having empathy for others is a strong ethos in our family. Therefore, the human tragedy that is unceasingly unfolding where innocent Gazans are trapped with nowhere to flee from the unmerciful lashing of bombing that is raining upon them, has troubled us as a family, and this was a small effort on our part to help raise much needed funds to help alleviate some of their suffering.”

The pair have a shared enjoyment of all things active, having climbed mount Snowden together a few years ago. He said: “Initially I was the only one that was going to partake in it alone. My daughter upon hearing of it immediately asked that she wanted to join me, even though she’s only 14.”

The circular route runs all the way around the city of Preston and is a popular route for families and fundraisers alike. Over the last eight years the Wheel route has raised nearly £20,000 for various charities.

Mr Sayid said: “I’ve never had the opportunity to work with FOA before. Their work of organising the the event was superb… I want to take this opportunity to thank them from the bottom of my heart. I will definitely be doing this next year too. My other daughter who is nine has already started training to participate next year!”

This year the FOA’s solidarity bike ride has raised over £10,000 so far and is running in many cities across the UK including Lancashire, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow and many more.

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