Cycling Team to Take on Challenging 550 Km Ride From Mecca to Medina this February to Help Children with Heart Defects

This February the H&K Cycle Club will be taking on the challenging 550km ride from Mecca to Medina for the third time to raise vital funds and awareness for children suffering from Congenital Heart Defects in Africa. The East London-based cycling club have already raised over £180,000 in previous rides to help facilitate these operations.

The cyclist will be riding for three days, 1^st – 3rd of February and will endure some of the most challenging desert conditions, such as strong headwinds and temperatures hitting 40C. The team will cover more than 550 kilometres across the tough desert roads separating these two historic cities in the West of Saudi Arabia.

This extreme ride has only ever been attempted by the UK cycling club having completed the ride for the first time in 2022 after battling the brutal environment, weather and often busy roads that make the experience even tougher for the riders and support teams. The next ride will see many of the cycling team take on the feat for the third time as they aim to raise thousands more for the charity.

The campaign will be raising vital funds for Muntada Aid’s flagship project Little Hearts which was launched in April 2012. The charity provides free life-saving heart surgeries to children with congenital heart defects from underprivileged backgrounds irrespective of gender, race or religion. To date, it has carried out 50 missions in 13 countries and performed nearly 3,000 cardiac interventions and surgeries saving thousands of lives.

Shamsul Abdin, Head of H&K Cycle Club, commented, “The Little Hearts project delivers vital operations and saves the lives of so many children around the world and the team is delighted to be able to support Muntada Aid’s missions in 2024. As we take on this tough ride again, we aim to raise as much as possible to help the cause and ask everyone to give generously to help us hit our goal.”

Kabir Miah, Programmes Manager of Muntada Aid, added, “We are so thankful to the Hope and Knowledge Cycle Club for choosing to raise money for our Little Hearts project again. We are in awe of all the riders as they take on this tough ride some for the third time and so grateful to all the individuals who have generously donated to help support our vital work in so many countries.”