Three men will tomorrow head to Sardinia from where they will row back to Malta in aid of the Children In Need Foundation.

Daniel Abela, 44, Neville Calleja, 41, and Reuben Vassallo, 28, got to know each other at the gym, and have been preparing for the challenge since February.

They will start their row on Sunday afternoon and brave the 600km stretch to Malta, which they estimate will take between eight and 10 days. Mr Calleja said back in 2008 he had noticed that Mr Abela took his training very seriously at the gym, and later got to know that he had just rowed between Sicily and Malta and raised some €90,000 in aid of the Puttinu Children’s Cancer Support Group and Beyond the Moon programme.

Last year, Mr Vassallo, who works in the same office as Mr Calleja, took part in the 800-kilometre trek of El Camino de Santiago to raise funds for the Inspire Foundation for Inclusion.

And this weekend, with the support of Vodafone Malta Foundation, the three men are hoping to raise funds for Puttinu and Inspire projects.

The funds raised for Puttinu will help pay for dream holidays for sick children and their families, while Inspire will be using the money to set up Malta’s first educational centre to help children with learning disabilities such as autism and dyslexia.

Follow the men on https://www. facebook. com/#!/childreninneedfoundation?fref=ts

Rowers for charity Daniel Abela, Ruben Vassallo and Neville Calleja. Photo: Lara Parker