After a challenging year, MC Events are back with their next charity cycle ride: The Tour of Wales: a 242 mile journey over 4 days across the length of Wales.

Starting in Cardiff, the team will cycle through the Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia and finish in Bangor. The route will follow the famous 'lon las cmyru' route over largely traffic-free roads, stunning scenery, iconic climbs and breath-taking scenery.

This page is for participants who have selected MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians) as their chosen charity to fundraise for.

Any money raised specifically for MAP from this event will go to help support their medical projects supporting Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees, and will help MAP immensely to cope with the extra pressure this virus is putting on the already fragile health systems in Palestine.

In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, the threat of COVID-19 has presented monumental challenges due to overcrowding, inadequate clean water and hygiene facilities and vulnerable populations.

Decades of perpetual occupation, displacement and funding limitations left the health systems Palestinians rely on in the West Bank, Gaza and refugee camps of Lebanon woefully unprepared for the global COVID-19 emergency.

MAPs COVID-19 emergency response has focused on supporting the major providers of quarantine and hospital services in our areas of operation, strengthening their response to the crisis: the Ministry of Health in the West Bank and Gaza; the network of NGO-managed hospitals in East Jerusalem; and the network of Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) hospitals in Lebanon.

There have been different phases to MAP's response as the pandemic has evolved in the region:

1. Slowing the rate of infection

2. Procuring essential medical supplies

3. Preventing the need for mechanical ventilation

4. Increasing oxygen generation capacity in hospitals

But the COVID-19 response is far from over. A year since the crisis began, Lebanon and the West Bank are experiencing a surge in cases associated with the arrival of COVID-19 variants from the United Kingdom and South Africa, placing intolerable pressure on those systems and critical care services in particular. Health facilities lack the infrastructure, skilled workforce, essential equipment, drugs and supplies needed to manage the pandemic long-term, while the vaccination programmes available to Palestinians remain glacially slow, piecemeal and inequitable.

With continued support, MAP will continue to help save lives and prevent suffering as the COVID-19 pandemic becomes a multi-year crisis for Palestinian communities. In partnership with local healthcare providers, MAP will continue to evolve the response to new and emerging needs and help the Palestinian health system build back stronger after the pandemic.