Stories of Hope
Doing Hope... in 2024

Words: 
The Amos Team

Photography: 
Mark Kensett and Alex Whitehead
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At Amos Trust, we review the year and share our highlights each January. 2024 was an incredibly busy year and it was often a struggle to feel hopeful with all that was happening in Palestine.

Looking back however, we were able to see so many glimmers of hope, be it stories of the incredible women taking part in the Climate Fellowship, good news from our Street Justice partners in India, watching Alaa from the Gaza Sunbirds take part in the cycling world championships or seeing people get busy all over the UK raising funds and speaking out for Gaza. 

Below are just a few of our highlights for 2024. Here’s to more Stories of Hope in 2025.

Alexia
Good news for Karunalaya, India — June 2024

A safe environment: Smiling faces as Karunalaya receive some very good news
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Meeting partners around the world working for street justice for girls and women has deepened my understanding of their complex struggles. Despite the challenges, their unwavering hope stands out.

A key highlight for Amos Trust came in June 2024, when Karunalaya in Chennai, India, received a registration certificate for their girls’ shelter. Previously, The Greater Chennai Corporation had moved a health centre to the ground floor of the shelter, making the space unsafe due to the presence of men and improper medical waste disposal.

Although the girls were relocated to a new building, they were soon told the shelter would close, leaving them at risk of homelessness, child labour, and abuse. Paul Sunder-Singh, Karunalaya’s founder, and his team relentlessly appealed to authorities, ultimately securing the certificate to keep the girls safe.

This victory underscores the resilience of those fighting for justice and the power of collective action.
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Meg
The Gaza Sunbirds at the World Cycling Championships, Zurich — September 2024

Chapeau! Meg Williams (third from the left) and friends in Zurich cheering on Alaa from the Gaza Sunbirds
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In 2024, lots of exciting things happened in the saddle. We supported Anne Jones, 82 years young, to summit Mont Ventoux, we rode 200km in a one-day coast-coast ride with Amos Road Club and we once again joined our friends at the Big Ride for Palestine to cycle in our thousands, raising over £60,000 for the Gaza Sunbirds. 

But most excitingly, Chris and I were lucky to travel to Zurich last September for the UCI Road and Para-Cycling World Championships to support Gaza Sunbirds co-founder Alaa al-Dali’s historic international debut. Alaa was the first cyclist to ever compete for Palestine. He did so against all the odds, having only been evacuated from Gaza in April last year.

After a small amount of training in May, Alaa managed to compete in some European races, hoping he could qualify for the Paris Paralympics on a wildcard place. Unfortunately, he did not qualify but earned a place in the UCI Road and Para-Cycling World Championships — one of the biggest cycling competitions after the Tour de France.

Alaa was the first cyclist to ever compete for Palestine. He did so against all the odds, having only been evacuated from Gaza in April last year.

After over two years of riding in solidarity with the Sunbirds as part of the Big Ride for Palestine and Amos Road Club, as well as supporting thousands of people to fundraise for the Sunbirds aid missions and to enable Alaa to reach the world championships, it was incredible to meet Alaa in Zurich and watch him race in his Team Palestine jersey.

Alaa is currently living in Belgium where he is continuing his training. We remain hopeful that he will be reunited with his wife and two young children, who are in Gaza. You can read more about our time in Zurich here.

Thank you to everyone who got on their bikes and peddled for hope in 2024. From Anne Jones, the Big Ride for Palestine, Amos Road Club, to everyone who took on their own cycling challenge to support the Gaza Sunbirds or Amos Trust’s emergency appeal for Gaza. Chapeau!
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Nive
Gaza Requiem — October 2024

Unbelievable: Gaza Requiem at Central Hall Westminster in October
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2024 can be summed up for me in one word. Unbelievable. How can this still be happening? My highlights are the glimmers of hope and humanity that prove that there will always be light.

Obviously, the unbelievable resilience of our partners and friends in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the extraordinary ongoing support of the Amos supporter family, continue to blow my mind and keep me ‘doing hope’.   

But I need to choose one highlight, so I’ll go with Gaza Requiem at Central Hall Westminster in October (pictured above). From a technical perspective, it was undoubtedly the most challenging event we have ever taken on, and with the help of some very skilled people, we pretty much nailed it. 

2024 can be summed up for me in one word. Unbelievable. How can this still be happening? My highlights are the glimmers of hope and humanity that prove that there will always be light.

But much more than delivering a complicated event on a technical level, we managed to create a very special space. A space to come together in solidarity, in grief and in anger. A space to stand tall and reaffirm that ‘we be many and they are few’. A space to hear the authentic and uncensored voices and music of Gaza. 

As Ambassador Zomlot so eloquently put it after hearing Adnan Joubran’s oud soaring through that beautiful space — “I have nothing to add; that was the voice of a nation.”
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Nick
Sumud: Union Chapel, London — April 2024

World-class: Our Sumud fundraiser for Gaza at Union Chapel in London
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How does an organisation like Amos respond to genocide? What event could we possibly produce that would, in any meaningful way, reflect not only our anger but also our creativity? Our answer? Call in a lot of favours.

Our Sumud fundraiser for Gaza at Union Chapel in London in April 2024 was a memorable evening of poetry, readings and music. We were joined by world-class musicians Beth Rowley, Alabasta Deplume, Shabaka Hutchings, Adnan Joubran, Foy Vance, Nadine Shah and the mighty Mogwai from Glasgow (pictured above).

There were also contributions from Irish DJ and producer David Holmes, actress Maxine Peake and artist, activist, producer and musician, Brian Eno. And we were honoured to be joined by Dr Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom.

Over £20,000 was raised for our work in Gaza. Watch this space for Sumud 2 coming soon — Inshallah. 

Read more highlights of 2024
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