Teacher runs marathon to help prisoners’ education charity

The 26 year old woman from Ballymoney is running the Edinburgh Marathon on 25th May to raise funds to help prisoners get an education.

Having always been interested in the criminal justice system, Amy Brown volunteered with a Ballymoney charity helping children in the care system to avoid a life of crime and has been interested in prisoner rehabilitation ever since.

“It was easy to see how children from that kind of background would be vulnerable, and how one bad decision could end up becoming a slippery slope,” says Amy.

Through her volunteering programme, Amy then mentored a young girl for three years who was in foster care.

Amy explains: “She’s now 16 and still at school. She’s doing really well and has made future plans for herself. I’m really proud of her.

“It was these experiences and knowing that many people end up going to prison for a reason - they’ve often had it very tough themselves - that inspired me to fundraise for Prisoners Education Trust. This is an issue that many people don’t think about very often but education is a really important way for people in prison to make changes and move on with their lives.”

Rod Clark, Chief Executive Prisoners Education Trust, said: “PET is always in need of more funding and every year we have to turn down good applications from prisoners who want to learn, simply because we don’t have the funds to support them.

If we want people to move away from crime when they leave prison, we must give them support to change.

“It’s great to see people like Amy choosing to fundraise for PET, we really appreciate her support. Good luck Amy from everyone at PET!”

Already five weeks into her training, Amy is a regular runner but this will be her biggest challenge yet.

Keep track of Amy’s progress on Facebook and sponsor her on her Justgiving online fundraising page.