Charlie Collins | Contributing Writer
Jailbreak 2015 has already succeeded in raising €45,000 of their €100,000 target with more than 19 hours to go before the official start of the event, breaking previous fundraising goals.
In its first year, 2013, Jailbreak managed to raise over €10,000 for its charities, with over €40,000 raised in 2014.
The event officially begins at 9 am tomorrow, Saturday, at Collins Barracks.
Jailbreak, which is organised by Trinity VDP, DU Amnesty and Law Soc, is raising funds for St Vincent de Paul and Amnesty International. This year is to see a total of 97 teams from six colleges participating. Participants from Maynooth University had originally been expected to have to drop out of the race due to a last-minute decision of the College not to insure the them however Jailbreak has since secured alternative insurance.
Teams will have to blag and fundraise their way to a mystery location, which is yet to be revealed, completing a number of challenges over the 36 hours of the event.
Ali Kelly, Project Manager of Jailbreak, commented on breaking the record to The University Times: “We are thrilled to have passed last year’s total before the Race has even started! It’s all thanks to the fantastic fundraising efforts of all of the competing teams. We’ve worked hard this year to build on the great work done by past organisers and it’s really great to see the whole thing come together.”
She continued: “All in all we are ludicrously excited for the weekend. The whole Jailbreak team has put so much effort into this and it’s so good to see it come to fruition.”
This year’s event sees a number of new rules aimed at making the event more competitive for the teams, and more interesting for those watching from home. As well as the introduction of the mystery ‘Location X’, there are four rules which the teams must follow: air travel is limited to two hours at a time, teams may not fly out of a country they have flown into, they must complete at least four charity challenges before the finish line, and, most challenging of all, they must complete the journey without using their own money.
The organisers hope to bring new life to Jailbreak 2015 by making it a race and by limiting the use of air travel. The addition of a finish line is intended to add an extra element of spectacle, allowing organisers to live stream the participants as they arrive at the mystery location.
Speaking to The University Times, Ben Butler, one of the organisers of Jailbreak 2015 commented that: “Jailbreak is an incredible event, and has been. But we felt a shakeup was necessary in order to keep interest and keep the event alive in order to raise as much money as possible for VDP and amnesty. Jailbreak makes for some great stories, and we hope this change will result in more of them”.
Jailbreak can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on their website
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Text JAILBREAK to 50300 to donate €4
Photo by Jailbreak
