Activists in Okehampton are organising a family event to raise money for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

Palestinian Solidarity Okehampton have been holding stalls in the centre of town for over a year to bring awareness to the atrocities happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza from the Israeli Government.

Spearheaded by Greta Button, Marianne Brown and Gareth Dale, the group aims to raise money for MAP and to show their solidarity to the children, men and women in Palestine who are going through immense hardships.

MAP provide immediate medical aid to Palestinians in great need, while also developing local capacity and skills to ensure the long-term development of the Palestinian healthcare system.

Greta, Parent Support Worker, said: “I was sat at home watching the horrors in Palestine on TV and thought, ‘what can I do?’, so I spoke to local people and friends who felt the same way as I do and we set out to run a stall.

“We know the stall won’t change the world but we decided to get out there, speak to like-minded people and share leaflets on what they can do to support the Palestinian people.”

Greta expressed that the majority of people who visit the stall were keen to support and find out more about what they can do to help the people of Gaza.

The group have their stall next to St James Chapel. They do not collect the money for MAP themselves but instead encourage people to visit MAP’s donation page through QR codes.

Greta continued: “We chose to raise money for MAP after seeing pictures of children with chronic injuries from bombs. The feedback we’ve had from people is that donating and being on the stall makes them feel a little bit better about what’s going on in Gaza because they’re actively doing something.

“That is why we came up with the idea to run a family-friendly event called ‘Lets Gather for Gaza’. It is a really sad situation in Gaza but we do not want this event to be sad. We want families to come together and celebrate raising money.”

Lets Gather for Gaza will be a free family evening of song, craft and food to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestinians.

It will take place on Saturday, October 11, in the Ockment Centre, 5-9pm. Entry is free and donations to MAP welcomed.

Activist Marianne, said: “It can get so demoralising and depressing when you get sucked into ‘doom scrolling’, online, so we really wanted to do something active where we can share our grief and anger over what's happening in Gaza right now.

“It is really important to have local presence because you see demonstrations in London and Exeter and it feels removed from life in Okehampton. But when you see someone you know coming together to show solidarity for Gaza it can feel empowering.

“The most common feedback we get is ‘I’ve lived in Okehampton all of my life and i’m delighted to see that the movement has spread here’. Gather for Gaza will be an opportunity to come together and raise donations.”