After travelling halfway across the world – from Gaza to West Wales – 19-year-old Mo had been trying to find a shop to buy food, but had no means of transport and little English. Jo, a physiotherapist and yoga teacher, then 58, offered the young Palestinian a lift to Tesco, then a meal at her family home.

Explaining that her daughter Molly was volunteering in the West Bank, she rang her to help her speak to Mo in broken Arabic – and that is how Mo came to become a member of the Furnival-Doran family. “Mo is my brother, in every way that matters,” Molly, a 32-year-old event producer, says now. “He has taught us – and me – so much. He has become part of our family in every way.”

Despite growing up 4,000 kilometres apart, in very different cultures, the pair quickly found they shared a love of music, food and cooking. But back then, “he didn’t speak much English, and I only had a handful of bad Arabic phrases,” Molly says. “Even so, we found common ground quickly. I’d just come back from a place he’d had to leave forever, and that connection mattered. I have such a strong bond with him.”

Mo with Jo (glasses) and the rest of the Furnival-Doran family(Image: Supplied)

Watching Mo survive and then thrive in the UK, inspired Molly, a former international footballer and cricketer, to plan a solo bike ride, through Europe and the Middle East towards the Rafah-Gaza border. In a few weeks’ time, she will be setting off on an extraordinary expedition – pedalling to Palestine in honour of the traumatic and difficult journey across continents that Mo made to reach the UK.

“Like so many people over the last two years, I’ve been asking myself, what can I actually do to help?” she says. “I decided I’d cycle as far as I could towards Gaza and raise money for grassroots organisations.” As a teenager, Molly represented Wales at both cricket and football, but she is not a professional cyclist. Meanwhile, with much of the Middle East subject to new waves of unrest and violence, she and Mo have had to spend a lot of time planning and adapting her route to make sure it’s as safe as possible.

“I’ll be mindful of my safety the whole time and of the privilege that allows me to cross these borders – but Mo has helped me plan,” she says. “I’m nervous and excited.” Mo will be there to see her off before flying out to meet her in Egypt, towards the end of the trip. “I have my aunties there,” Mo, now 26, explains, “We can visit, and I can repay some of the amazing hospitality Molly and her family have shown me. I am so thankful to them.”

Molly’s ‘The Cycle has to Change’ fundraising challenge starts in Brighton next month and will end as close to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, as she can safely get, covering approximately 4800 km across multiple countries, to support three charities providing essential support to people within Gaza: the Free Gaza Circus Company, Delia Arts Foundation, and Gaza Sunbirds.

Molly’s ‘The Cycle has to Change’ fundraiser starts in Brighton next month and will end near the Rafah border(Image: Chelsea Reeves)

On Molly’s fundraising page she addresses “my brother” Mo: “Thank you for finding us. Thank you for letting us be your UK family. And thank you for inspiring us all in showing us your strength. I truly hope that one day we will get to meet your family and be able to share the love we have for you.”

Clocking up thousands of miles, she will ride four days on and one off, over three months. Preparation for the trip has been intense. Molly and Mo have held fundraisers – including a contest to see who could make the best Palestinian rice – since November she’s built up to 80km cycles around Bristol and up and down Welsh hills on her titanium bike, nicknamed Buddy. “I’ve been working hard,” she laughs. “I’ll need to eat lots to keep up my calories, I’m packing a stash of Drumsticks sweets for when energy is low.”

Molly is covering her own costs, camping where she can. The donations are for three charities supporting young people and the arts in Gaza. “Mo’s story is very close to my heart,” she says. “But I’d catch myself every now and again reminding myself of how many families there were, just like Mo’s.

“I chose this route for a few reasons, but mainly to honour Mo’s journey. Mo made his journey in an incredibly dangerous way, without choice, safety, or protection. I’ll be moving through it legally and as someone able to cross borders, and with a level of safety that so many people never have. This journey is far less dangerous for me than it is for most people who have to make it, but within that there needs to be care, awareness, and respect. I spoke to Mo early on because he panicked about me crossing certain borders. I know some of it terrifies him.”

Palestinians continue their daily lives under harsh conditions amid the rubble left by Israeli attacks in Jabalia Refugee Camp, Gaza, on March 11, 2026.(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)

The asylum seeker camp at Penally Army Barracks closed in wave of controversy in 2023, after a scathing report uncovered ‘filthy’ conditions that left residents feeling 'depressed' and 'hopeless'. The buildings, on land once used to train soldiers for the Crimean War, have now been put up for sale by the Ministry of Defence.

Mo now has settled status and is able to live and work legally in the UK. After being relocated to Leeds he’s now flat hunting further south to be near his friends, and has just completed security training for a new job. Mo joined Molly at Glastonbury and volunteered where Molly works as the build manager for the Shangri-La part of the festival.

“We used to drive around Pembrokeshire playing the song Dance Monkey,” Molly says. “I told him that song was playing everywhere when I was in Palestine, and from that moment he always wanted to listen to it, I think it made him feel close to home. Now it's very much our song – we even do a karaoke duet version.”

But Mo still lives with the pain of being apart from his own family, and he is worried about Molly too. “When Molly first told me about her plan I cried,” he says. “I was worried. I said, ‘I need you to be safe’. I didn’t know if she should do this. But we have looked at the way to go and we have made a route, and she is not taking any risks. “I’m very proud to call her my family”

Donate to Molly’s trip here.