Since its inception in 2013, Jailbreak has been one of the most exciting events in Trinity’s calendar. Now entering into its sixth year of operation, Jailbreak is back, bigger and better than ever. As applications open tomorrow, The University Times spoke to Hugh Fitzgibbon, St Vincent de Paul Director of Jailbreak 2018, about how to get involved.
Jailbreak 2018 was officially launched by Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor two weeks ago, and now the Jailbreak team are preparing to host an information night, as well as officially opening their applications to take part ahead of the competition set to take place in March 2018.
Jailbreak is a charity challenge like no other, whereby students from third-level institutions from around Ireland have 36 hours to race across Europe in teams of two, with the aim of reaching a mystery “Location X” first. The catch? Students cannot spend any of their own money throughout the race and must fundraise for the two charities along the way.
The format of the competition has changed multiple times over the years but the central theme remains the same: students racing around the globe in aid of St Vincent de Paul and Amnesty International. Last year, An Cumann Gaelach joined the Jailbreak team and added a new dimension to the race: Gaeilge. Students are encouraged to use their ‘cúpla focail’ throughout the competition and to promote Irish language and culture as they race across the continent.
Jailbreak is run entirely by students and has become the largest student event in Ireland with students from colleges all over Ireland participating annually. Over 120 students participated in Jailbreak 2017. Participating colleges include Trinity, University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), University of Limerick (UL), University College Cork (UCC), Mary Immaculate, National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), Carlow Institute of Technology (CIT) and more.
The money raised during the competition will go towards St Vincent de Paul and Amnesty International. Speaking to The University Times, Hugh Fitzgibbon said: “Jailbreak is our largest fundraiser. The money raised from Jailbreak enables us here in Trinity VDP to run our 30 weekly activities: working with people experiencing homelessness, adults with intellectual disabilities and children from disadvantaged areas. Without Jailbreak, we simply couldn’t run our many homework and after-school clubs or our street outreach programme or our teen club.”
Aoife Curtin, Amnesty Director of Jailbreak 2018, added: “Jailbreak goes a long way towards funding Amnesty’s national and international campaigns, such as ‘I Welcome’ and ‘Brave’”. Last year’s Jailbreak raised an astonishing €57,000, and since 2013, Jailbreak has succeeded in raising over €225,000 for these two very deserving causes.
If a global rat race in the name of charity sounds appealing to you, applications to compete in Jailbreak 2018 open November 1st at 8pm on the Jailbreak website. Further information on how to get involved in Jailbreak 2018 will be provided at tomorrow’s information evening at 7pm in the Thomas Davis Theatre or can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
