Jailbreak 2016 exceeded its €50,000 fundraising goal seven hours before the official end of the event – 9pm tonight.
Jailbreak, which is organised by Trinity VDP, DU Amnesty and Law Soc, is raising funds for St Vincent de Paul and Amnesty International.
Jailbreak teams have to blag and fundraise their way to a mystery location, completing a number of charity challenges over the 36-hour event. It officially began yesterday morning at 9am from Dublin’s Collins Barracks.
This year’s challenges include swapping clothes to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” and showing support for the Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa who has been imprisoned in Egypt since August 2013. Another challenge asks teams to compare the length of their journey to that of refugees as part of Amnesty International’s “SOS Europe” campaign.
A Trinity team, “The Absolute Chancers”, has been announced as the winning team. Three teams in total have made it to “Location X”, while other teams are still moving across Europe – and some are still in Ireland.
Since last year, the winning team has been the first to make it to “Location X”, which in 2015 was Lake Bled, Slovenia. This year clues were given to the location of “Location Y” – Warsaw – and teams who completed all of the challenges and arrived in Warsaw were given a key and clues to the location of Location X.
Originally an event just for Trinity students, Jailbreak expanded to include other colleges in 2014. This year, 90 teams are taking part in the event, made up of students from colleges and universities all over Ireland.
In its first year, 2013, Jailbreak raised over €10,000 for its charities, and over €40,000 was raised in 2014. Jailbreak 2015 failed to reach its fundraising goal of €100,000, with €65,000 raised.
Speaking to The University Times, Christopher Bowes, Law Soc’s Director of Jailbreak, praised the work of the teams, stating he was “absolutely delighted” with their fundraising and their efforts in getting to both locations. He continued: “It’s been great to see teams from all over Ireland come together and help each other.”
He also praised the “amazing work” of the volunteers stationed in Jailbreak HQ, Trinity’s GMB.
In addition to the €50,000 raised via donations, €3,000 has been raised in sponsorship.
Speaking to The University Times last year, Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International in Ireland, praised the work of Jailbreak, stating “the funds raised through Jailbreak help us continue our human rights work and work on campaigns.”
