For a short period in the spring, Molly Furnival-Doran was a poster girl for palatable Palestine fundraising. Her story – of growing up in a sleepy Welsh village, finding herself with a Palestinian adoptive brother scooped off the streets by her mum, then deciding to retrace his 3,000-mile odyssey by bike to raise money for Gaza – was enough to inspire even the most cynical observers. Speaking to Zeteo UK, Furnival-Doran joked about her wholesome appeal: “My mum says that from day dot, I’ve been Miss United Nations.”
In her hot-pink cycling casquette and oversized aviators, the 33-year-old’s enthusiasm for life had soon infected ITV News, the Daily Mirror, BBC Wales, WalesOnline and several local papers. It had also attracted the attention of her chosen fundraising platform, GoFundMe.
In January, GoFundMe’s press team approached Furnival-Doran, saying it had been “moved” by her campaign, and asking if it could put her in touch with journalists.
The same day, Furnival-Doran received an email from GoFundMe saying the payouts from her fundraiser – which, at the time of writing, totalled £34,990 ($45,879) – had been paused.