Eight members of the labb and NETbuilder team ride three days through the Italian Lakes this July for Médecins Sans Frontières, turning every climb into funding for medical care where it is needed most
We are trading our keyboards for handlebars this summer. From July 2-4, 2026, eight of the team, Tony, Sean, Henry, Harriet, Liz, Emily, Jonathan, and Jolly, are taking part in the 2026 Pega Cycle Challenge.
Three days, 460 kilometers, and a some challenging climbs through the Italian Lakes, all to raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Sponsor us now!
Why We Picked This Cause
MSF runs medical operations in more than 70 countries, and are often the ones still working when everyone else has pulled out: conflict zones, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, displacement camps. Care is decided by who needs it most, full stop. Not nationality, not religion, not the ability to pay.
That clarity is what won us over. There is nothing performative about the work. Surgeons, midwives, nurses, and logisticians take donated money and turn it into treatment, fast, in the places that need it most. We wanted to support that.
Our CEO, Sean Richardson, was direct about why he signed up:
“MSF goes where the need is greatest and asks nothing of the people it treats. That is worth backing properly, not just with a donation but with some real effort. The team has put in the training, the route is no joke, and I am proud to be riding it with them. If you can spare something, please give.”
There is also a target to chase. In 2025, riders in the Pega community pulled together £60,000. To put that figure in context, it is roughly what MSF spends on one of its inflatable field hospitals: a fully stocked, working medical center that the organization can stand up in a couple of days and run almost anywhere on earth. A hospital in flat-pack form, treating patients within 48 hours of the crates arriving. Matching that number this year would be something. Beating it would be better.
Where the Money Goes
What we like about giving to MSF is that you can see the donation turn into something tangible. The conversion rates are published, and they are specific:
- £6 buys seven oxygen masks
- £10 buys eight wound dressings
- £17 buys two splints for broken legs
- £50 buys enough dressing kits to treat 42 people wounded in conflict
- £95 covers a full year of antiretroviral medication for one person living with HIV
- £153 equips an MSF surgeon with a basic surgical kit
Of every pound donated, 86p reaches medical work on the ground. The rest keeps the organization able to function, which is about as lean as overheads get. Put simply, your money becomes oxygen, bandages, splints, and operations rather than admin.
The Scale of the Need
It is worth pausing on the numbers, because they are genuinely striking. A complete field hospital, operational in two days, for roughly the sum one group of supporters raised in a single year. Twelve months of HIV treatment for less than the cost of a good night out. Surgical kits and splints priced not against budgets but against lives.
The people at the other end of these figures are not statistics. They are someone needing oxygen, a wound cleaned and dressed, a fracture set, a child delivered safely. Many of them live in places that have slipped out of the news cycle entirely. MSF still reaches them. Our part is small by comparison: ride hard, and help fund the work.
Two Ways to Help
We are asking for two things only.
Sponsor the team. Any amount lands somewhere useful, from a handful of oxygen masks to a surgeon’s kit, and 86p of every pound gets where it is meant to go. Nothing is too small to matter to the person on the receiving end.
Then share this blog post. The wider it travels, the more we raise, and the closer we get to that £60,000 mark, and past it if we can.
We will have all of you in mind on the climbs. Thank you for getting behind the team, and behind MSF.
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) delivers medical care in more than 70 countries, independent of race, religion, or politics. To learn more about the work, visit msf.org.uk.
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Paul Wales, Labb customer
Support the Team!
To sponsor the team, please visit our JustGiving page here and give anything you can. No donation is too small and every penny counts.
