Councillor Conor Maskey has thrown his weight behind a man who is preparing to drive through 14 countries to deliver much needed aid to Gaza.
Fra Hughes has to raise £2500 before he can head off to the war torn region to help the thousands of families living in suffering. While his cash finding campaign gets underway Fra has been given the backing of North Belfast Sinn Féin who said they will do all they can to help him reach his goal.
Fra, who owns the Parkview Lodge bed and breakfast, will trek across 4000 miles in a van with two men he has never met before as part of the Antrim to Gaza mission.
He will join John Quinn and Padriag McShane from Ballycastle on the mission and the group will aim to leave Belfast in mid September and drive through England, France, Italy, Turkey and Egypt before making their way to Gaza. They will join a convoy of some 500 vehicles from around the world who will taking part in the huge aid mission.
After around three weeks of travelling in the van Fra and his colleagues hope to get through the border in Gaza and hand out their aid. They then hope to spend a few days in the region hearing stories about how people there are living before flying home from Egypt.
Councillor Conor Maskey said both his party and the people of North Belfast are behind Fra.
"We are politically backing Fra and his team and it is important that groups and individuals like Fra are carrying out good work so that the Palestinian people get the freedom and justice they deserve," he said.
"At the minute Gaza is just an open air prison and it is this type of activity coming from groups and people like Fra that keep the issue in people's consciousness."
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