Cycle Kosovo for Children completed its fourth annual tour around Kosovo, which has been organised by local cyclists and the Action for Mothers and Children charity, with the support of EULEX and other international and local organisations. Cyclists toured around Kosovo’s major towns and cities covering the distance of 500km with 6000 meters of climbing starting from Pristina.

This year, the charity cycling tour has so far raised over 7000 euros  through corporate sponsorships, individual online contributions and the raffle prizes during the end of the event fundraising party held in De Rada on 4 June in Pristina.

“In 2016 we have started the process of transferring the responsibility for organising this event to local cyclists, with the view that the event will continue for many years to come. I am very glad that this year’s charity cycling tour was very successful, mainly because it’s the first time that it was organised primarily by local cyclists and the Action for Mother and Children charity,” explains Mark Dixon, Head of EULEX Advisory Unit on Police and Border Matters and one of the Cycle Kosovo for Children initiators.

The funds raised  through the charity cycling tour will be used to deliver much needed equipment to the Neonatology Intensive Care Unit in Peja. This equipment is essential to measure the severity of blood infections in babies, allowing for prompt antibiotic therapy, proper duration of antibiotics, and treatment follow-up. This treatment is highly efficient as the results would be ready in 4 minutes, after a single blood draw. The use of this equipment is expected to improve the efficiency of care provided for newborn babies in Peja.

The Cycle Kosovo for Children is a fundraising event which started in 2014, in cooperation with Action for Mothers and Children.  Since then, a group of 20-40 cyclists participate in the annual tour, cycling around Kosovo, passing through major cities in the country, including 500 km of cycling and over 6,000 meters of climbing. The tour continued in 2015 and 2016, with the same goal, namely raising funds for the Prishtina University Hospital Maternity Unit. Each year, the event was able to raise between 10 and 18 thousand Euros, through corporate sponsorship, individual donations, and the end-of-tour event organized in Pristina. The money was used for the purchase of a Haematology Analyser, UV lamps for baby incubators, and Cardiopulmonary Monitors, which was donated to the Maternity Unit in Pristina. Whilst the final figure for the 2017 event has yet to be finalised, its anticipated the events running total over the four years will reach 50000 euros.