Darkness Into Light overwhelmed by support

THE organisers of Darkness Into Light in Strabane have said the response to this year’s event has been “overwhelming.”

For the second year in a row, Darkness Into Light will happen without the large groups of local people gathering together to walk in aid of Pieta House – which has a centre in Letterkenny – and locally, the Koram Centre. Instead, organisers are appealing for locals to share the sunrise in their own family bubbles.

Darkness into Light is an annual fundraiser set up by Pieta House (Suicide and Self-Harm Crisis Centre). The event will be held worldwide this year on May 8.

“We have been overwhelmed with the support from local businesses who have sponsored refreshments and offered prizes for social media competitions,” organiser in Strabane, Debbie Deans remarked.

“The number of registrations so far have exceeded expectations and it seems that people cannot wait to meet their friends outdoors and share their sunrise for mental health.

“Although people will not meet at Melvin this year as usual and complete the walk in one large gathering we do urge people to do their walk, at their time in their own way and send us in all their pictures and tag us on social media so that we can collectively ‘share the sunrise’ on May 8.”

Debbie made special mention of Strabane woman, Laura O’Neill, who donated a whopping £1,000 to this year’s Darkness Into Light.

“Laura had previously raised £1,350 for a volunteering trip to Fiji which was scheduled to take place last summer,” Debbie explained. “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was rescheduled until this summer but has been postponed again. Therefore, Laura has decided to use the funds she has raised to support several other charities. She has donated £1,000 to the two charities Darkness Into Light supports, Pieta House and the Koram Centre and she will donate the other £350 to ‘Feed Bali,’ a charity which is supporting Balinese families who are dependant on the tourism industry in Bali to survive.”

• To register or for more information, log onto www.darknessintolight.ie/venue