Pilgrim Playright begins a second trek for charity

A BRITISH playwright, who raised £18,000 for charity by walking 150 miles from Bristol to London in 2025 while fasting, is undertaking the challenge again this year as a "gesture of solidarity to Muslims", with an extra 31 miles across Spain.

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Peter Oswald, 60, who is embarking on a second Pilgrimage4Palestine trek

(ALEX WOLFE-WARMAN/PA)

Peter Oswald, 60, is a former writer in residence at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, and said his Pilgrimage4Palestine walk began after he felt a "sense of complete despair" watching a "genocide" unfolding in Gaza since October 7 2023.

He said he completed the 150-mile walk last year as a way of "calling to the soul of Britain through the soles of our feet", alongside Nick Bilbrough, founder of charity The Hands Up Project, which connects international volunteers and mentors like Peter with children on the ground in Gaza who want to explore the arts.

Peter became involved with the charity in 2017 when he said he helped children in Gaza with plays and poetry competitions.

Peter said he initially "decided to just set off" on his own with a tent and walk from Bristol to London, but the activist group Bristol Palestine Alliance persuaded him to organise it properly to have events along the way.