Author: Jawad

Georgina is going to attempt to walk continuously for 24 hours around the small park BIG RUN course – 21-22 June. We asked her why and it became quickly clear her feelings and commitment run deep.

Why you are doing this run?

In the summer of 2023 I lived in Hebron in the West Bank of Palestine volunteering teaching English, I witnessed the occupation first hand and the experience changed my life. I wanted to do everything I could to bring change and attention to this oppression. On my recent visit this year, I saw how much worse life had become for people in the West Bank. I am walking for the whole 24 hours as a form of protest to highlight the extreme conditions Palestinians in Gaza have to endure under the current Israeli bombardment of their home and also the countless miles Palestinians have walked due to displacement since 1947. 

What do you hope to achieve?

I hope to raise as much money as I can so that the Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange charity can continue to do their incredible work. I also hope that pushing my body to the extremes will draw attention and make people see how urgent it is that our government needs to act now to stop the suffering and murder of Palestinians.

Your feelings on Palestine and any other message?

Many Palestinians have told me that seeing the protests and solidarity around the world has given them hope and they feel seen. Showing up and speaking out is incredibly important and that effort is appreciated. 

Palestine has a deep soul within the land which you can feel with every step, supporting a beautiful and rich heritage, loved and protected by the most generous and kind people. It must not be erased.

I look forward to meeting you and the team and everyone taking part! It really is wonderful to see my city showing support and solidarity. Best Wishes from Georgina.

Support Georgina’s fundraiser here

Or join Georgina for, at least some(!), of her 24 hour effort by signing up here.

Our event is always an occasion of celebration and joy. This year with the background of current events and the awful trauma and sadness, it feels difficult. But, we discovered, living with contrasts of joy and sadness, or life and death, are the standard experiences for Palestinians. They have no choice. And so it will will have to be similarly for us.

Read on to discover what we are doing to mark and mourn the terrible events in Palestine.

• Tent camp You will find near the start/ finish line a replica tent camp which will be inhabited by Palestinians over the whole 24 hours. Intended to reproduce symbolically the conditions Palestinians are experiencing in Gaza today. They will share their stories, experiences and news from home with visitors. Next to the camp will be a tent with a photographic exhibition depicting the 1948 Nakba – horrible echoes of which have reverberated brutally into our present.
• Torch of remembrance At 8.15 pm on Saturday 22 June we will hold a solemn procession taking a torch around the park course in remembrance of all those killed during the genocide. We will hand out LED candles to light your way, symbolising lost souls and to be placed at the solidarity tree after. The torch will burn all night.
• One minutes’ silence During the closing ceremony we will hold a minutes’ silence to remember all those who have been killed in the events of the last eight months. This will follow a hopeful link up with our partner project Never Stop Dreaming in Khan Younis, Gaza, and other project friends in Ramallah, West Bank.
  
  We hope you will join us in these sombre events if you can. And we hope you will come and enjoy the whole event as well. Smiling, more than crying. Palestinians live a rollercoaster life where joy and tragedy sit uncomfortably and unavoidably side by side. For this weekend we will stand in solidarity and experience the same.

The whole programme can be viewed here.

Last time we held small park BIG RUN in Meersbrook Park in 2019, the final hour was coined Buskers’ Hour. And it’s back! Musicians are positioned around the run circuit to encourage weary final hour participants and kicking off the festive celebratory atmosphere for the end of run rally. It will be 11.00am-noon on Sunday 19th June.

With some runners near to completing the whole 24 hours, their services will be needed more than ever! We’re delighted to have eight groups of very talented musicians kindly donating their time, efforts and happiness to us.

These include highly talented singer-songwriters, a ten piece folk band, a community choir recently returned from Palestine, a Sheffield street band, a heavy metal acoustic duo. It’s going to be a blast!

This is the complete list. Thank you all!

1 Well Dressed Band are a community based folk band based in the Peak District
2 Cobalt Tales are a female duo based in Sheffield that tours the UK and festival circuit
3 Sheffield Street Band is a well known local collective of musicians
4 Julia Waldron is a wonderful singer songwriter/guitarist from Sheffield.
5 Megatron Death is inspirational heavy metal folk.
6 Tadhamon choir is an ensemble of singers very supportive of the Palestine cause
7 John , Guy, Rob and special guest are talented Meersbrook residents
8 Chrystine Moon is another fabulous local musician and singer songwriter.

Below you can see where they will all be playing on this map and also some lovely pictures of the musicians in their element!

Hope to see you there. Don’t forget to sign up! Or simply come along and support the participants and enjoy the fun.

small park BIG RUN organisers were enormously privileged to interview two Palestinian refugees earlier this year. The accounts they gave were moving, fascinating, frank, honest and inspiring in equal measure. We are very grateful to them for sharing their personal and painful stories.

1. Interview with Sahar Awadallah
2. Interview with Kholoud Al-Ajarma

Sahar Awadallah and Kholoud Al-Ajarma both told of how their families were expelled from their homes seventy years ago – and are still dreaming, three generations later, of their return.

Sahar spoke of the insecurity she experienced as a child moving multiple times from country to country, with a bag permanently packed ready for the next upheaval. She spoke of her anger that she must seek permission to visit her hometown. And she also spoke of her annoyance at the double standards and hypocrisy that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has again revealed. Where it has now become OK to call for sanctions against a country accused of aggression and occupation – this was not the case for those calling for a boycott of Israeli goods who were often accused of racism and exceptionalism.

Kholoud told us of her life – where at first she didn’t realise she was growing up living in a refugee camp, she thought everyone lived like that! But slowly she discovered that although Aida refugee camp was her home, it wasn’t her homeland.

She spoke movingly of the tales her grandparents and parents would tell of their homes, now in Israel, where the cactuses tasted like honey, they ate fresh figs from the trees and they ate fresh bread from the oven. With weekly markets and friendly people all around. This memory stood in stark contrast to the refugee camp she found herself in, with its daily Israeli army raids and the smell of tear gas, rather than fresh bread, in the air.

Kholoud said that that although the stories her family told her seemed to be like fairy tales when she managed to finally visit their family homeland those stories turned out to be true. Beautiful countryside with space to live in, to return to, and air to breath.

You can listen to the interviews in full, by following the links below.

small park BIG RUN would like to thank both Sahar and Kholoud from the bottom of our hearts for their collaboration and cooperation.

1. Interview with Sahar Awadallah
2. Interview with Kholoud Al-Ajarma

You can find more information on refugees in Palestine here. And visit Badil (Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights).

Throughout Covid we continued to hold small park BIG RUN, but in the format of a virtual/DIY event where people did activities wherever they felt safe – be that their home, garden, or outside. After a two year gap we are delighted that the small park BIG RUN (#spBR22) will take place, for real, in Meersbrook Park, Sheffield, noon-noon, 18-19 June 2022. There will also be music, singing, poetry, tea, coffee, cake, lantern making, exhibitions and more.

SIGN UP IS NOW OPEN! With three distinct ways to participate.

1. Sign up to participate in the event – from 30 minutes to 24 hours (we have had people do 24 hours before!) on a circular route through Meersbrook Park.
2. Sign up to the DIY event – over the last two years small parkBIG RUN hasn’t been held in the park but wherever people felt safe to do their own DIY activities. If you are unable to attend the physical event in the park you can stull participate however you like, in a place and at at time of your own choosing
3. Sign up to volunteer to marshal. The event depends on an army of volunteers to ensure the welfare of he runners and other park users. We would be so grateful you can spare an hour.

THE EVENT #spBR22 is a 24-hour group community challenge from Saturday 18 June to Sunday 19 June – noon to noon. You choose the time and length you want to run, walk or jog around laps of Meersbrook Park. From 30 mins to 24 hours! At noon on Sunday there will be a free one lap Fun Run link up with friends in Palestine and, all being well, refreshments in the Walled Garden.

FUNDRAISING We raise funds for the Khuza’a play and heal centre for traumatised children in Gaza and the Sheffield Palestine Women’s Scholarship fund which supports Palestinian women to study at university. Last year we raised over £12,000!
Read more about the two charitable initiatives and how you can help fundraise here.

THE THEME IS REFUGEES Each year we pick a different theme to raise awareness of a particular problem for Palestinian people. Read more about the theme here.

ALL ARE WELCOME The event will be as inclusive and welcoming as possible. We would like to help overcome the many barriers experienced by people from marginalised groups, ethnicities, religions, genders and disabilities. If you require support to help you participate, please contact us. small.park.big.run@gmail.com

STAY IN TOUCH! We publish a regular newsletter in the months leading up to the event in June – if you would like to get updates about the event, the projects we support, information about Palestine and more please sign up here!

CONTACT US! / SPEAK TO US! / JOIN US!  We have multiple social media channels! We’d love to hear from you. And remember if you share stuff please use our hashtag: #spBR22

Our channels: Facebook – Webpage – Instagram – Twitter – Email – Strava

RUNS IN PALESTINE – In 2019 seven runs took place in Palestine at the same time as ours. They were held in the spirit of friendship and solidarity. Plans are still being made for 2022 but we can happily confirm there will be a run in Nablus. Below are picture of the Nablus 2019 Run for Freedom/small park BIG RUN.

Below is a small selection of photos from our last Meersbrook Park event in 2019.

We hope to see you 18-19 June, noon – noon SIGN UP HERE!

Many people do their small park BIG RUN DIY activities in groups, with some amazingly creative and impressive efforts recorded. Since the beginning five years ago Good Gym Sheffield has put together 24 hour teams who have performed some extraordinary and inspiring efforts. Here Good Gym Sheffield member Andrew tells us what they did for #spBR21.

“Good Gym Sheffield joined Small Park Big Run on what has become an annual fixture for us. We had 18 runners – and between us we covered the whole 24 hours – often with more than one runner out at any given time.

“There were some truly amazing efforts – Dana ran for the whole 24 hours, running over 100 miles on a treadmill and raising over £1,500 for the SPBR charities; Rachel ran a mile each hour for the whole 24 hours; Celine ran the Limestone Way [46 miles]; and Katy ran the Round Sheffield Run – twice [30 miles]!

“The mere mortals in the team hit the trails in the parks, woods and streets around Sheffield and the Peak – with one or two unable to resist the lure of the Meersbrook Hill.

“At midday on Sunday a number of us joined the event in Meersbrook Park – and the weather was kind enough to let us sit out for a picnic and enjoy the singing and music. We’ll definitely be back next year – supporting the event once more – and “looking forward” to 24 hours on the hill.

“Until then our thoughts are with those in Palestine.”

From all at #spBR21 thank you Good Gym! Find out more about Good Gym Sheffield here

I have taken part in this event ever since I knew it existed. I joined small park BIG RUN (#spBR21) at Meersbrook Park in 2019 (having posted leaflets about the event with GoodGym) and then contributed 3 hours of running last year as part of the DIY lockdown event. I knew this year I wanted to try a solo challenge. As a Palestinian, the charity focus is always close to my heart, but more so now that so many others are speaking up and sharing the truth, there is so much good done already, but it is ever more necessary now.  

My Gazan father was forced out of his home as a child, becoming a refugee and we have family still living in the apartheid state.  Being Palestinian and British means I feel it is my duty to speak up and be proactive. The sense of collective community and kindness shown by Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange (SPaCE), Sheffield Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Sheffield Palestine Women’s Scholarship Fund and the local Meersbrook and Heeley community to help improve the life chances, aspirations, and opportunities for the most marginalised and silenced voices in the world means so much to me. Shukran for all donations, be they solidarity miles or money.

I’m aiming to try to cover no less than 120km, so averaging about 5km an hour.  If I can push towards 150km I will be proud – but the resilience to be on a treadmill, in my Baba’s Garage is going to be one of the more challenging aspects of my run. I am trialling my hourly speed at present, playing around with splitting my hours into fast and slow intervals to keep energised, allow food, and clock up the mileage.  A day of discomfort is nothing compared to the conditions and treatment of Palestinians controlled by illegal occupation since 1948 and the pain of those (like my father) who find themselves interrogated and refused return to see loved ones.

I run to hopefully one day be able to see the village where my family comes from. To see it in more than just photos. #FreeFreePalestine

If anyone has any recommendations for my running playlist – English or Arabic classics (big fan of 90’s arab pop!) send them through.

If you can spare some money to donate to my efforts please visit the link: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DanaAbdulkarim 

‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.