Cycling challenge for charity launched

The second edition of the ALIVE Cycling Challenge was launched this morning.

The challenge will consist of 45 cyclists from Malta, including 12 female participants, cycling across five European cities next July.

They will travel a total of over 1000km through Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade, between the 9th and 18th July 2014.

The challenge, sponsored by the Malta International Airport, aims to raise funds for the Research, Innovation and Development Trust at the University of Malta. The funds will be used to support breast cancer research projects to improve survival rates of breast cancer patients in Malta.

In attendance for the launch were Minister for Health Godfrey Farrugia, the First Lady Margaret Abela and wife of the Prime Minister and president of the Marigold Foundation, Michelle Muscat. The participating cyclists were also present.

“We should encourage our own students to research and find ways to fight this disease,” Muscat said. “The ALIVE Charity Foundation is working hard to make this research possible and we should all unite to make the results a reality.”

Farrugia said that it is the government’s commitment to have NGOs as strategic partners. “A strong partnership is the right vehicle to register the best clinical practices in healthcare”, he said. “Innovation and research are of paramount importance in improving health outcomes and the knowledge available to healthcare providers”.

Nicky Camilleri, chairperson of the ALIVE Charity Foundation, said that the funds collected last year amounted to €55,000 and had already been allocated to various research projects.