A signed Harry Potter book, a necklace worn on stage by Vanessa Redgrave, and a Japan football shirt signed by Gary Lineker are among the items going under the hammer in a celebrity auction opening July 27 to fund university places for students in Gaza.

The 10-day auction, titled "Scholarships for Gaza," is coordinated by Phoenix Space, a registered UK charity. Bidding takes place on the auction platform jumblebee.co.uk, according to Variety.

More than 20 celebrities are participating. Nicola Coughlan and her "Derry Girls" co-star Siobhán McSweeney donated a signed behind-the-scenes photo. Paapa Essiedu is auctioning his personal copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." Brian Cox, Paloma Faith, Maxine Peake, Juliet Stevenson, Charlotte Church, Harriet Walter, Vanessa Redgrave and Janet Suzman have all contributed items too.

Some donations carry a particular personal weight. Juliet Stevenson is parting with the first poetry book she ever owned. Charlotte Church donated a spot at her next wellness retreat. Harriet Walter gave her personal script from the Donmar Warehouse's all-female production of "Julius Caesar," along with a signed copy of her book. Vanessa Redgrave contributed a necklace she wore in the play "Long Day's Journey Into Night." Janet Suzman donated a vintage Christian Lacroix brooch. Maxine Peake gave an "I Swear" production hoodie. Gary Lineker donated a signed Japan football shirt.

The auction was spurred by the UK government's announcement that it will help students in Gaza travel to and study in the UK, provided they have fully-funded scholarships. According to Phoenix Space, hundreds of Gazan students have been offered places at UK universities but lack the funding to attend. Those offers come from institutions including University College London, Imperial and Edinburgh, in subjects ranging from artificial intelligence to cognitive neuroscience.

Phoenix Space says 104 Gazan students plus 26 of their dependents are already continuing their degrees at international universities through the charity and its partners, according to a post on the organisation's Instagram. The "Scholarships for Gaza" celebrity auction was promoted on the same platform on July 25, a day before it was publicly announced.

For fans, the appeal is straightforward: a chance to own something genuinely personal from a performer they admire, with the money going toward a specific, measurable goal — getting a student to a campus they have already been admitted to but cannot afford to reach.