Nine people will be undertaking the challenge of rowing all the way to Pozzallo on June 27 to raise funds for the Malta Cancer Foundation, which aims to improve the quality of life of those affected by cancer.

Dorian Vassallo, one of the rowers and a member of the organising team, lost his wife to cancer two years ago and is now using her favourite sport to raise awareness.

Following what he described as the worst period of his life, he decided to use rowing to show the suffering that cancer patients and their families had to withstand, and to raise funds to reduce their pain as much as possible.

The idea to row to Sicily had been brewing in his head for a while and he decided to turn it into a reality, with the support of friends, and Wilfred Sultana and his team, the Wishbone Solidarity Group.

The challengers - Nicki Valenzia, Robert Pullicino, Joe Borg, Albert Gambina, Mark Bugeja, Gregory Camenzuli, Sandra Fsadni and Stephen Brincat, head of Boffa Hospital's Radiotherapy and Oncology Department - all have years of experience and have been undergoing intensive preparations, Mr Vassallo said.

Over the last years, the foundation has been a source of funding for ongoing projects at Boffa Hospital.