The organisers of Darkness Into Light Luxembourg were overwhelmed by the turnout at last year’s inaugural event, when, despite a downpour of rain, over 400 people joined the pre-dawn 5km walk to help raise awareness of suicide and mental health and self-harm.

Now they have been touched again by the response to a call to walk despite the confinement restrictions currently imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic. And it still rained, though nothing like past year's deluge.

Dozens of walkers, solo, in couples and families, walked from their homes to greet dawn on Saturday 9 May, the date originally planned for this year’s global Darkness Into Light event. Many were wearing T-shirts from last year’s event and took selfies or posed for photos, while others took shots of the views on their walk. “Even in the darkest of times, no one needs to walk alone,” said the organisers on Saturday morning. “Although we couldn’t walk from darkness into light together, we still wanted to share some hope.”

The official Luxembourg walk has been rescheduled for 3 October. Now under the patronage of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, it will raise funds for Ireland’s Pieta House suicide prevention and counselling services, and in Luxembourg walkers also contribute to SOS Détresse and D'Ligue’s prevention suicide service, and, this year for the first time, Kanner-Jugendtelefon. Registration for the Luxembourg walk is available on the main Darkness Into Light website.

In Ireland, RTE’s “The Late Late Show” on Friday was dedicated to Pieta House and Darkness Into Light. Some €2 million was raised during the show, which can be viewed on the RTE Player here for 28 days after the original broadcast.