Dublin City Council has introduced an outdoor locker system to a number of its parks, including Eamonn Ceannt Park.
BoxUp will allow members of the public to access sports and leisure equipment for up to three hours for free, through a dedicated app.
“We know that for some, accessing equipment can be a real barrier to their participation, and with so many facilities, parks and open spaces across our cities, it’s important we try to meet the needs of individuals to enable them to be active,” said Mary Corry, project lead and National Active Cities Officer.
“It’s exciting to see the initial uptake, with almost 400 users and over 1,200 uses of equipment across both parks in Dublin City to date.”
Welcoming the new unit to Eamonn Ceannt Park, Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste said the initiative will be of great benefit to the local community and will support the health and wellness of Dubliners.
“You just need to download the free BoxUp app on your smartphone and create your account using photo ID,” explained Carmel O’Callaghan, the local Active Cities Officer for Dublin City.
“There are no credit card or bank details required. Just select on the app the equipment you want to use, and the locker will open.
“When you are finished your activity, simply place the equipment back in the locker and upload a picture to the app confirming you have returned it.”
Over the past year, eight Local Sports Partnerships have been working collaboratively to create more access to opportunities for participation in sport and physical activity across the five largest cities in Ireland; Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.
In recent months, two units have been installed, one north of the city in Mount Bernard Park, Cabra and the second in Eamonn Ceannt Park in Crumlin.
Each unit has six lockers containing a variety of equipment such as basketball, football and pickleball.
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