Irish suicide prevention charity, Pieta House, brings its flagship fundraising event to London this year, as it aims to make more people aware of its valuable work.
The event, Darkness Into Light, is a 5km walk or run that takes place just as dawn is breaking. This symbolises the work Pieta House do – dawn represents the light of hope that the charity bring to people’s lives. This year’s event, the sixth, takes place at 4.15am on Saturday 10 May and was officially launched earlier this month by RTÉ TV presenters Sinead Kennedy and London–based Eoghan McDermott.
The London event is being held in partnership with Kerry Association London and will be taking place at Gladstone Park, starting at the Crown Moran Hotel. Potential volunteers are invited to the London launch on 28 March at the Crown.
Speaking at the launch, Joan Freeman, CEO and founder of Pieta House said:
“Darkness into Light is an incredible experience. It means an early rise but people don’t regret it.”
She made a particular appeal for men to get involved.
“We’re tying this year’s event in with our Mind Our Men campaign that aims to reduce male suicide in Ireland, so I want to ask everyone to bring a male friend or family member with them.”
Demand for Pieta House’s free service is growing all the time. The charity rely on events like Darkness Into Light to help them raise funds to meet this demand. For example, proceeds from last year meant Pieta House could extend their service to counties Cork, Galway and Kerry.
Bringing the event to London for the first time demonstrates the charity’s ambition to extend awareness of its work to different communities. Last year, 40,000 people in 20 locations in Ireland took part. This year Darkness Into Light will be taking place in 39 locations, and Pieta House hope to see double the number of participants.
Would you like to be part of the event and raise valuable funds? Register online now