New Ross is lead host for Darkness Into Light walk
NEW ROSS is the venue for the launch of the Kilkenny and local Darkness Into Light walks this year.
Darkness Into Light is Pieta House’s flagship fundraising awareness event. It celebrates its tenth year this May in more than 150 venues in Ireland and across the world.
Darkness into Light began in 2009 when 400 people came together in Dublin’s Phoenix Park to raise awareness about suicide and self-harm. From these humble beginnings, Darkness into Light has blossomed into a global movement against suicide and self-harm, with over 200,000 expected to take part on Saturday, May 12, this year. This unique event begins at 4.15 a.m. as participants walk 5km routes around the world and finish as the dawn is breaking, journeying together from Darkness Into Light. Up to 1,500 people participated in last year’s walk in New Ross, raising around €24,000.
The New Ross Darkness into Light Committee said it is delighted to host the County Wexford and Kilkenny City launch of Darkness Into Light this year. The launch takes place on Wednesday, March 28, in the Dunbrody Visitor Centre on the quay in New Ross at 7 p.m. and all are welcome to attend.
The New Ross Chairperson Ger Tobin is encouraging the local community to attend. She said: ‘New Ross was incredibly supportive of the Darkness into Light event last year and almost 1,500 people took part from the local community. We would love to see that number go up this year. Suicide and self-harm are serious problems in our country and we need to face them together.’
Registration for this year’s event is now open and is exclusively online at www. darknessintolight.ie. Please check darkness into light New Ross on Facebook for further details or email dilnewross@gmail.com.
Speaking on the importance of the event, Pieta House CEO, Brian Higgins, said: ‘I want to ask everybody to wake up and join us in support of families and friends affected by suicide and self-harm. All of our services are free, but the demand for them is ever-increasing. We all need to wake up to the stigmas that lead people to self harm and suicidal crisis, and to the doors of Pieta House.’