Walk from a Distance for the Milford Care Centre Memorial Walk 2020

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, Milford Care Centre has chosen to hold their annual memorial walk, but they are taking every precaution so the walk does not violate public health regulations. They are calling it the ‘Walk from a Distance’ fundraiser.

The concept of this year’s event is to ‘Walk from a Distance’ to honour social distancing during COVID-19. In order for this annual fundraiser to continue, Milford Care Centre has created a way for everyone to be safe and this year, people will walk the assigned 1km distance on their own time and in their own area. They can complete it with household family members or by themselves if they choose. 

The ‘Walk from a Distance’ fundraiser will give people in the Midwest a chance to honour their loved ones who have passed away. Taking place from Sunday, May 3 to Thursday, May 7, the Memorial Walk asks participants to do 1km each day for 5 days, making it a total of 5km in 5 days.

Pat Quinlan, chief executive of Milford Care Centre, spoke about the ‘Walk from a Distance’ concept saying, “We did not want to let the COVID-19 pandemic deny anyone the opportunity of doing the walk and that’s why we have decided to ask people to do it in their own space and time. While we may not be able to walk collectively, we can do so in spirit by doing the walk on our own or with members of our households, carrying the memories with us.”

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The ribbon ceremony will take place online for people to link into and watch. Pictured above are ribbons with names of the bereaved.

Following the five days of walking the centre will hold a blessing ceremony on Friday, May 8. The blessing will be live-streamed on the organisation’s social media pages, so all participants can tune in together to remember their beloved family and friends who have passed away. 

To continue this remembrance, Milford Care Centre staff will write the names of these people, which were submitted to the Centre, on ribbons. The ribbons will then be placed on the Christmas tree this coming Christmas in the Milford Care Centre Chapel.

Pat commented on the online blessing ceremony, saying that it, “will also serve to bring people together until we can arrange the annual ecumenical service we usually hold in Milford Church, which we have to postpone until some future date when some form of post-pandemic normality returns.” 

While the organisation had to change their event to abide by the COVID-19 restrictions, Pat is proud of everyone involved who is helping to continue the annual tradition saying, “Like everyone else, we have had to adjust our normal way of operating to avoid the spread of the virus. It’s a trying time for everyone, especially here in Milford and I cannot thank all of the staff enough for their trojan commitment to caring for our patients and doing everything within their power to maintain a safe and healthy environment.”

The entry fee is €20 per family, and people can sign up for the walk on Milford Care Centre website.

To apply for the walk, click here.

For more information on Milford Care Centre, click here.

For more stories on Milford Care Centre, click here.