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ethan-davies
19th March 2019

How far can you get in 30 hours without spending a penny?

Free holiday to Istanbul, anyone?
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How far can you get in 30 hours without spending a penny?
How far can you go with Jailbreak 2019? Photo: Manchester RAG.

On the 5th April, the University of Manchester organises its most renowned challenge where teams of participants have 30 hours to get as far as possible without spending any of their own money on travel: Jailbreak.

Those who partake can experience the thrill of racing across the country, and beyond, to raise money for Worldwide Cancer Research whilst also making unforgettable memories.

The idea is to get as far from Manchester as possible without spending any of your own money, and you’d be impressed how far you can get.

It’s quite normal to see students pop up in European cities – Rachel Thomson “made it to Oslo… wearing only an elephant onesie as I had no coat”, but in previous years, students have reached as far as Istanbul without spending any money — Jack Hargreaves was one: “We were the last jail-breakers to leave Manchester that year, but the first to leave Europe in five years. In total we raised over £700 for Breast Cancer Care UK and had a trip I will never forget!

“I thoroughly recommend for anyone to have a go, regardless of how far you get, you will have an adventure you will not forget. Simon and I decided to make our own giant [boob] costumes from papier mache to attract some attention for our adventure. We ended up wandering around the city for about five hours and as we were unable to exchange money through anything other than the cut out nipple, we had strangers feeding us and getting the odd itch we couldn’t scratch.

Photo: Manchester RAG.
This boob made it as far as Turkey. Photo: Manchester RAG.

“During our wild Halloween night in Manchester city centre we raised a lot of money from the very generous public to contribute to our flights. A quick scan of SkyScanner showed that we could get return flights to Istanbul, over 1700 miles away from Manchester for the money we managed to raise in the city centre. We had an incredible time there, we couch-surfed, got shown around by Syrian refugees and saw the Blue Mosque in our short 22 hours visit.”

Jailbreak organiser Denisa Manda said: “Jailbreak is definitely the challenge that will push your limits and help you rediscover yourself. It is a way in which you can support Worldwide Cancer Research while having crazy adventures and unforgettable memories.

“We work hard on making it the best experience for our participants, thus I encourage you to take part and challenge yourself in one of the most popular events across universities in the UK.”

Interested? You can find out more about the information session online here. The deadline to register is 26th March.


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