Higher Education Minister Mary Mitchell-O’Connor launched Jailbreak 2018 today in Trinity College Dublin. The event which is the largest student fundraiser in Ireland was organised by college branches of both Amnesty International and St. Vincent De Paul.
The idea of Jailbreak is for teams to race to get to a secret location known as ‘Location X’ in 36 hours. Previous locations have included Lake Bled in Slovenia, San Marino and Krakow in Poland. The teams cannot spend any of there own money to get to Location X and all money raised goes to the two charities involved. In the 6 years Jailbreak has been running, over €225,000 has been raised. All third level students are able to participate in the challenge.
Hugh Fitzgibbon, Co-Director of Jailbreak for 2018 said ‘A race across Europe to reach a mystery location with the aim of raising money for St Vincent de Paul and Amnesty – Jailbreak truly is a challenge like no other! We are very excited for Jailbreak 2018 and will be visiting colleges all over Ireland in the coming weeks with all the information.’
Minister Mitchell-O’Connor said at the launch ‘It is great to see 3rd Level students use their ingenuity, stamina and the power of their collective to help people less fortunate than themselves. I am sure the enthusiasm of the 2018 Jailbreak participants will motivate people within our Colleges, Universities and the wider community to engage with the two charities, St. Vincent de Paul and Amnesty International”
Information nights for Jailbreak 2018 will be taking place in colleges around the country in the coming weeks. Further information can be found on www.jailbreakrace.com or on Facebook (Jailbreak HQ), Twitter (@JailbreakHQ) and Instagram (@Jailbreakhq).
Rachel O’Neill – Editor
