Nicola Coughlan, Paapa Essiedu and a long list of other public figures are taking part in a charity auction designed to raise money for students in Gaza. The sale, organized by Phoenix Space, is set to open on July 27 and will run for 10 days on the Scholarships for Gaza auction website.
The auction includes contributions from more than 20 celebrities, among them Brian Cox, Gary Lineker, Paloma Faith, Maxine Peake, Juliet Stevenson, Charlotte Church, Harriet Walter, Vanessa Redgrave and Janet Suzman. Coughlan and her Derry Girls co-star Siobhán McSweeney have donated a signed behind-the-scenes photo, while Essiedu is offering his personal copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
In a statement, Essiedu said he could not imagine universities being destroyed and so much talent going unused, adding that he hoped the book could help open futures for students. Other items up for bidding include a signed Japan football shirt from Lineker, a production hoodie from Peake’s I Swear, the first poetry book Stevenson ever owned, a place in Church’s next wellness retreat, Walter’s personal script from Donmar Warehouse’s all-female Julius Caesar and a signed copy of her book, a necklace Redgrave wore in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and a vintage Christian Lacroix brooch from Suzman.
According to Phoenix Space, hundreds of students in Gaza have already been offered places at U.K. universities but lack the funding to attend. This year, those offers include places at University College London, Imperial and Edinburgh, with students set to study subjects such as artificial intelligence and cognitive neuroscience.
Source: variety.com
