Running to support ex-offenders at Yellow Ribbon Prison Run

More than 7,000 people laced up their shoes in support of ex-offenders at the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run yesterday.

The event, in its ninth edition this year, saw two kinds of runs - the standard 10km run which is open to the public and a team run called Run for Second Chances, which debuted last year. Run for Second Chances was initially meant only for ex-offenders and their close supporters but, for the first time yesterday, it was open to the public as well.

The chairman of the event's organising committee, Superintendent of Prisons 1A Chin Soon Theen said: "With the Run for Second Chances category open to the public this year, we hope to encourage more members of the community to come together in acceptance and support of ex-offenders... The community has the power to make a positive difference."

According to a media release, this year's event, which took runners from Changi Village (start point) to Changi Prison Complex (end point), has raised over $123,500.

Since it was started in 2009, the run has raised more than $921,500 for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which funds rehabilitation programmes for inmates, ex-offenders and their families.

Guest of honour Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who flagged off the run, said: "We want our citizens, our people, even if they have had some difficulties in the past, to be able to have a chance to come back and make something of their lives. This is a very important aspect of being Singaporean."