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30th Apr 2019

Record number of participants expected for Darkness Into Light 2019

Conor Heneghan

Darkness Into Light 2019

Participants raised a massive €6 million through the event in 2018.

More than a quarter of million people are expected to take part in the annual charity fundraiser, Darkness Into Light, when this year’s event takes place on 11 May.

Darkness Into Light was hosted in over 200 venues across 19 countries and five continents in 2018.

This year, Pieta House and Electric Ireland have increased capacity, with additional volunteers, and expect 250,000 people to walk, from darkness into light, this year.

A global movement dedicated to ending suicide and supporting those who engage in self-harm, Darkness Into Light participants play an important role in removing the stigma around suicide and self-harm as well as raising vital funds to fight suicide.

In 2018 alone, participants raised a massive €6 million, which helps keep Pieta’s counselling services free of charge and freely accessible to those in suicidal crisis, people who engage in self-harm and to those bereaved by suicide.

This year’s event was officially launched earlier this month with the unveiling of the ‘Wall of Hope’, a larger-than-life mural on Camden Row in Dublin created by Subset, a group of artists responsible for some of Ireland’s most provocative street art.

Pieta House are encouraging people to share their messages of hope using the hashtags #DIL2019 and #ThePowerOfHope in the lead up to this year’s walk and beyond.

Registration for the event is open on the Darkness Into Light website, while in the run-up to the event, Business Intelligence and Data Solutions company The Information Lab Ireland has created an interactive map in Tableau of all 202 venues in 21 countries that will host the dawn walk on 11 May.

People looking to take part can use the interactive map to find locations across Ireland and the globe that are closest to them and then sign up using the links hosted within the map (see below).

Commenting on this year’s event, Elaine Austin, CEO, Pieta said: “Darkness Into Light is vital for fundraising, for raising awareness and for bringing people together from rural communities to major cities across the globe in a spirit of solidarity, comfort and compassion in giving all hope.

“Social connection is the heart beat of Pieta, it’s about removing the feeling of isolation and to spark conversation about the importance of mental health and wellbeing in all our lives.

“The new online registration process is a lot quicker and more user-friendly than previous years and we would urge everyone who wants to get involved to register at www.darknessintolight.ie.”

Main image via darknessintolight.ie