Mountjoy Prison Staff support PH Awareness

The Irish Prison Service’s vision is ‘A safer community through excellence in a prison service built on respect for human dignity’ with an associated set of values including Teamwork, Integrity, Potential, Safety & Support. Next Monday 9th September, staff from Mountjoy Prison are bringing this set of professional vision and values to bear in order to ‘unlock’ support for Pulmonary Hypertension Ireland and PH Awareness.

A static cycle will take place outside the Whitty Building of the Mater Hospital – this is the new entrance on North Circular Road. A contingent of staff from Mountjoy Prison will bring 10 bikes from their gym down to the hospital and they’ll be positioned on the pathway. A static cycle / Spinning Class will take place and will continue from 9am – 5 pm. We’ll have 80 cyclists participating (these will consist of staff from the prison, the Mater Hospital and some sports personalities). We’re honoured that the Lord Mayor of Dublin – Paul McAuliffe has agreed to visit us to encourage our cyclists while they Get Breathless for PH.

The Governor of Mountjoy has very kindly donated a racing bike and a signed Dublin Jersey towards the event. We’ve decided to raffle the bike around Christmas time and the jersey will be auctioned on line through the Mater Foundation.

Participants in the cycle have agreed to wear our Get Breathless for PH T-shirts and accept sponsorship cards for completion (all have agreed to raise at least €100 each). There will be people with collection buckets on the street. The staff of the prison canteen will bring their BBQ units down to the street and will cook burgers (Meat, Vegetarian & Vegan) which will be given out for a donation towards PH. We hope to attract media attention and hope too that as many of our PH association members will attend also.

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of the Governor of the prison and his staff with their time, innovation and enthusiasm – it is great to see two of the oldest institutions in the city working so closely together. The Prison was founded in 1850 and the Mater Hospital was founded in 1861. Both were set up to help the poor and underprivileged and they continue to work to accomplish the Mission of their founders. Sufferers of Pulmonary Hypertension often feel incarcerated by this debilitating disease so perhaps it is particularly poignant that Mountjoy Prison Service staff are being so generous in support of our members, the charity and Pulmonary Hypertension awareness in general. Join us if you can for what promises to be a captivating day!