This year's Lifecycle challenge "Acropolis - The Hard Way" was launched yesterday at the Hilton in St Julians.
This challenge will see 40 cyclists travelling 1,850 kilometres from Budapest in Hungary to Athens in Greece, going through Serbia and Montenegro and Albania.
The cyclists and a back-up team will leave Malta on August 28, returning on September 9.
Lifecycle chairman Anna Miggiani said the initiative's main aims were to raise funds to support St Luke's Hospital Renal Unit, increase awareness and knowledge about the services and programmes offered by the Transplant Support Group and about the causes of kidney failure among the general public.
Lifecycle also aimed to increase activism and volunteerism among the participants and the public causing them to become ambassadors in the fight against renal failure and organ donation. It wanted to provide a positive, life affirming experience for the people affected by renal failure.
Health Minister Louis Deguara, who attended the launch during which eight Home Choice machines were presented to the Renal Unit, praised the initiative saying that what had started as just an idea had now become an established event with others being encouraged by Lifecycle to take up other challenging initiatives for the benefit of others.
People suffering from renal failure, he said, went through a physical and mental trauma which they had to live with throughout their life.
He said the hospital received many requests from tourists asking for slots at the Renal Unit throughout their stay in Malta but these could not be met because the services offered were already overstretched.
The minister said that interest had been shown by a private company to offer renal dialysis. This proved the extent of the demand there was for this service.
Ms Miggiani said the Renal Unit presently listed 180 patients - 110 on haemodialysis and 70 on peritoneal dialysis.
Haemodialysis patients needed to attend four hourly treatment sessions at the unit, three times a week.
Those on peritoneal dialysis performed a special treatment at home after receiving a special training course at the unit.
Patients came from different walks of life and their ages varied from four to over 80 years. Their life depended on dialysis, without which they would die. Their only hope to stop treatment was a transplant but these were very rare, Ms Miggiani said.
Ms Miggiani said that dialysis treatment was very expensive, amounting to about Lm10,000 per patient per year. The estimated running cost to treat the present number of patients each year is over Lm1.5 million.
Lifecycle was founded by personal trainer Alan Curry after his wife Carmen suffered from kidney failure in the last few weeks of 1999.
"I was so devastated, yet so impressed with the standard of care she received from the medical staff at St Luke's Hospital that I decided to do something in return - Lifecycle was born."
Donations to Lifecycle can be made online at www.lifecyclechallenge.com, through a bank transfer at HSBC account 0611987920 50 or BOV account 14814521017 or by cheque or postal order to Lifecycle organisation, c/o Renal Unit, St Luke's Hospital, Guardamangia.
Donations can also be made through SMS - 50617351 for a Lm1 donation, 50618928 for a Lm3 donation or 50619208 for a Lm5 donation.
Hilton Malta executive chef Joe Vella said yesterday all proceeds from his recipe book Feast Your Senses will be going towards Lifecycle and the Hospice Movement.
The book, produced by Miranda Publishers and published by Promotion Services last month, is available from Hilton Malta against a donation of Lm15 or more. Already 900 copies have been taken up, including at least 400 copies by Hilton Malta's foreign guests.
Many of the recipes in the book are those he cooks for the Hilton guests.
Through the money made from the sale of the first 900 copies, a lifter for the coach of the Hospice Movement was bought. He hoped enough money would be made for Lifecycle to be able to buy the main kidney machine for the Renal Unit.