DCU Enactus Society launched a fitness boot-camp conducted by a former prisoner as their latest social enterprise project, last week.
‘Prison Break’ is run in conjunction with charity,Care After Prison (CAP), which aims to provide employment to former prisoners.
Prison Break takes place every Wednesday in Albert College Park instructed by ex-prisoner and CAP member Kieran.
“We want to get rid of the stigma that people have around ex-prisoners, we’d love to see a second former prisoner get involved and really enable Kieran to achieve as much as possible”, said Enactus team leader Mark Farrelly.
“We met the guys from Care After Prison to discuss how we could work with them and we heard Kieran was teaching a fitness boot camp to other ex-prisoners. We knew we could apply the same model here, provide Kieran with a source of income, and get fit in return!”
Kieran describes the classes as, “an intense hour of circuits and the games at the end for a bit of fun, like wheelbarrow races and relay games.”
He said he was surprised at the fitness level of the students in week one, and is looking to make it harder.
Participant, Conor Hawkins said: “I thought it was very enjoyable. It was tough enough for you to feel like you were getting a good work out but also laid back enough for you to enjoy it.”
Each class costs €5 with €3 going directly to Kieran, €1 to the Care After Prison charity and €1 to Enactus DCU for operational costs.
Enactus chairperson Roisin Nestor said: “It’s going really well, we had a big interest from students already. It’s empowering for Kieran and the participants, myself included. We’d love to see more students getting involved and maybe even getting a second class started.”
Alison Ring
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