Volunteer of the Year Finalist: Fiona's 'happy tears' at nomination

Darkness Into Light Cavan has been running for 14 years. The walk aims to raise funds for Pieta, a national suicide prevention charity. Fiona Corby has been the Darkness into Light chairperson for Cavan for the past 10 years.

She told the Celt she cried “happy tears” upon hearing that she had made it to the final stages of the awards.

“It meant an awful lot that people thought of me.

“To do something like that, that was just magic.”

“It really did make my whole entire week,” she said.

The DIL event began in Cavan with 303 participants. Last year, 3,000 people took to the streets of Cavan as dawn crept across the sky to show their support.

“It’s become a huge community event in Cavan.”

Fiona loves organising the annual walk, with her favorite part being afterwards “when everybody comes back together” to share a cup of tea and a chat.

“It’s a very very magical moment and we have created that.

“We have created a safe space for people to speak about suicide and mental health.

“From 14 years ago to now I have seen a dramatic change in people reaching out for help and being more open about suicide and it’s just brilliant to see."

Fiona thanked people who help to organise the event by hanging up decorations, stewarding the event, donating bottles of water, bringing baked goods - everything people do to make it special.

“The people of Cavan make the walk extremely, extremely special.”

“When I get up on the stage and I see that sea of yellow, it catches in my chest because people set their alarm to come and walk in the middle of the night.”

Fiona lost her brother James to suicide at the age of just 23 years.

“It completely rocked our world,” Fiona said.

She became an ambassador of mental health and Darkness Into Light Cavan.

“I’ve loved every single minute of it, as hard as it is.”