Darkness Into Light, the flagship event for suicide prevention organisation Pieta House, takes place early on the morning of Saturday May 9th.
Darkness Into Light is a unique, early morning fundraising event which begins in darkness at 4.15am as thousands of people walk or run a 5km route while dawn is breaking.
The event will be hosted in 80 locations across Ireland and the rest of the world, including venues in England, Scotland, Canada, the United States and Australia.
JOE spoke to Oliver Skehan from Pieta House about Darkness Into Light, which has doubled in size from last year and is going from strength to strength in the fight against suicide.
JOE: How does this event compare to last year’s in terms of size?
Oliver Skehan: In terms of size there are twice as many venues as last year with 80 locations staging the event across Ireland and internationally. Last year nearly 80,000 people took it upon themselves to take part in 40 locations and this year we’re hoping 100,000 people will come out and support us.
63 of this year’s venues are in Ireland while the remaining 17 span five countries – England, Scotland, Australia, Canada and the United States. Due to the success of both Sydney and London in 2014 we tried to incorporate as many international venues into this year’s event and they certainly add an extra dimension to what is already a phenomenal event.
JOE: What did last year’s event enable Pieta House to accomplish, and what are the aims from DIL 2015?
Oliver Skehan: As it is our flagship fundraising event it enables us to sustain our life-saving services across our nine centres nationwide. Furthermore, it’s about increasing awareness about the scourge of suicide and self-harm and more importantly it’s about hope.
Hope that things can and will get better, hope that our work will continue to shine a light into the dark crevices of people’s despair and hope that people will reach out to each other, to find comfort in the support of others in what can be very, very testing times.
The aims from DIL 2015 are to get as many people as possible to set their alarms early and walk with us from the darkness into the light on what is a truly memorable morning and an experience that people hold dear from one May to another.
With this in mind we’re encouraging all the incredible people taking part in this year’s event to show solidarity – no one should walk alone! Ask them how they are, is it their first time, how far have they travelled, even just say hello – doing so will embellish your experience even more.
JOE: Do you find that there’s a big sense of community around Darkness Into Light? Or, if not community, personal accomplishment?
Oliver Skehan: Suicide and self-harm have touched every community in this country and for that reason community and community spirit is what binds Darkness Into Light together.
Participating in Darkness Into Light sends out a crystal clear message that every community in this country has decided to stand up to suicide, to shout stop by making Darkness Into Light an event to look forward to… an event that pulls together the very same community touched by the scourge of suicide and then walks into the light.
There is certainly a sense of personal accomplishment in pulling on your iconic yellow t-shirt and playing a real part in saving the lives of people up and down this country and further afield.
Details on Darkness Into Light and how to register are available at DIL.pieta.ie
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