A 5km fun run/walk is set to take place in Darndale Park on Saturday, April 30 to bring the local community together and steer young people in the area away from antisocial behaviour, crime and addiction.
Offering up a dose of community spirit and a positive representation of Darndale, the event is spearheaded by Ger Redmond, who said sport and fitness saved him and changed his life when his son came along.
The event has been organised as part of the Get The Message Out campaign, which was established by Northside Partnership to connect people to addiction and counselling services.
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Ger, who is an ambassador for Get The Message Out, told Dublin Live that sport saved his life and helped him change for the better, which is why he decided to organise a 5km run for the local community.
He said: "I grew up in Darndale. I was involved in crime for about 18 years. I have a son now and I changed my life in 2016 to inspire him.
"22 months later I became a professional triathlete. I never swan in my life before that. I found sport to be like a counsellor."
Speaking about the upcoming event, Ger revealed: "I came up with this 5k run because I wanted to spread positivity in the Darndale community. The people of Drandale don't see runs or races brought to their area.
"I wanted to show the kids that have been involved in crime something different in the area.
"It's going to be massive. There's a 1k run for kids. It's a full family day out and it's basically to bring people together to create a great atmosphere. We want to promote healthy lifestyles through sport. Sport saved my life.
"We're bringing people together to let them know we're a good community. When we pull together we work better."
Ger also revealed that on the back of every medal and on every t-shirt will be the number for Get The Message Out, so anyone who took part in the event will have the number if they ever need it.
He added: "If you have an issue, instead of looking for all these other services, you ring this one number and they sort you with the help you need. It's really efficient."
The event starts at 11am on Saturday, April 30.
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