Even bigger crowd expected at second Wexford town walk Walk aims to bring people together
AROUND 2,500 people are expected rise before dawn on May 12 to take part in the Pieta House Darkness Into Light walk in Wexford town.
This is only the second year that the walk has been held in Wexford but it was a massive success last year with numbers this year expected to swell significantly.
Last year around 1,700 people turned out to support the walk surprising the organisers who had expected in the region of 1,000 people.
Organiser Liam McCabe who had previously sat on the Ennicorthy Darkness Into Light committee said it was an natural progression to bring the walk to Wexford town.
‘I was on the committee in Ennniscorthy for two years and could see that a lot of people from Wexford were travelling to take part in the walk so I decided to organise one here in the town. Last year was our first year and I had expected around 1,000 people but over 1,700 turned up. We were blown away with the support we received and raised over €46,000 last year so we hope to increase that this year.
‘ This year there is a change to registration. Instead of registering locally now all participants must register online at dil. pieta.ie. There will be no registration on the day. Tee-shirts will be posted out to registered participants in advance of the walk.
‘ The new changes all relate to data protection and security and to be honest it’s a lot handier for organising committees. We estimate that we will have around 2,500 people taking part in Wexford which would be amazing.
‘Anyone can talk part, young or old, and you can either walk or run the route. There is a great atmosphere around the town on the morning. Many people are walking for their own personal reasons, such as suffering from mental health problems themselves or having a family member who died by suicide.
‘Others just want to come out and support the event and raise money for Pieta House. Lots of people have volunteers to help out on the morning both with stewarding and refreshments. We have scouts, girl guide, member of MarineWatch and other general volunteers as well. It’s great to see the whole community coming together for such a worthy cause.
‘After the walk there will be refreshments served in St Joseph’s Community Centre.’
Participants taking part in the Wexford walk are asked to meet at St Joseph’s Community Centre. Walkers will then head towards White Mill Road, by Woodie’s, onto Clonard Road, continuing on Summerhill Road, going by St Aidan’s SuperValu and back to St Joseph’s Community Centre. The walk starts at 4.15 a.m.
(By Esther Hayden)
UNFORTUNATELY, Enniscorthy as a town is all to familiar with the pain of suicide. Over the years, the town has more than it’s share of bright and bubbly people, young and old, who’ve battled valiantly with mental health difficulties before tragically succumbing. There are not too many families who haven’t been touched by suicide in one way or another. On May 12, these families, friends and well-wishers will come together in an uplifting display as they walk from Darkness into light to raise funds and awareness for Pieta House.
Although it feels as though it’s been around forever, when Darkness Into Light began in Wexford four years ago, Enniscorthy was the only location to host an event. Now the county hosts four separate walks. A big crowd is expected at Bellefield GAA complex from 4 a.m. on May 12 for the cause once again and over 500 have already registered online. Organiser Maria Nolan is keen to stress that the event is about people coming together and talking, rather than completing the route itself.
‘ This isn’t a race,’ she said. ‘ Times will not be clocked, people are of course free to run the route but we would like this to be all about people walking together, talking together and coming out of the darkness into the new dawn together, I think that is this concept of hope and togetherness that founder Joan Freeman had when she began Darkness Into Light, it is all about making people feel that they are not alone, that we are all in this together
(By Pádraig Byrne)