Local people came out to cheer along Olivia Cosgrove, from Enniskillen, and Noel Johnston, originally from Omagh, Northern Ireland leaders of the Great Big Walk as it came to Fivemiletown on Monday to visit the Molly and Mia Foundation’s Big Lunch Barbecue.  

The Eden Project Great Big Walk initiative is funded by the National Lottery to celebrate some of the UK’s shining examples of community spirit.

The Molly and Mia Foundation hold a big Lunch every year to bring together the charity community, and this year the Big Lunch barbecue was the culmination of a series of cookery lessons for the children of the members.

It is a big priority for Dianna McDowell and anyone living with loss that their loved ones should be independent and know how to cope should they ever have to deal with a bereavement.

Dianna lost her twins Molly and Mia and several other close family members at the same time. Dianna said: “It is really important to celebrate the work of all of the volunteers we have in the Molly and Mia Foundation. They do all the work - I just get the plan in place and then everyone takes off and works together to make it happen. This barbecue is the result of many weeks of cookery classes for the children so it is lovely that they are able to put their new skills to use for the whole community and to share a meal with the Big Lunch and Great Big Walk team.”

The two Northern Ireland walkers are Olivia Cosgrove, volunteer with Refugee Rescue and founder of Row the Erne, and Noel Johnston, who has achieved the record for walking the Ulster Way in 28 days to raise money for charity and needy families. 

“The whole thing was absolutely amazing,” commented Olivia Cosgrove. She said: “The Molly and Mia Foundation volunteers turned this patch of land into a beautiful community space, a place of remembrance for babies that are held in people’s hearts even though they weren’t held in arms long enough. There are so many people in this situation, and we are just lucky it didn’t happen to us. The amount of effort and drive to make the event happen is incredible and Dianna and her team deserve recognition for that.

“This place is really a reflection of Dianna’s personality. What I have seen here is her dedication to other people. She spent the whole evening making sure other people were looked after and always in the best humour. That’s the thing that all of the people running community projects around Northern Ireland and across England have had in common. They are all about about community and not about the self.”

Olivia felt that the atmosphere there on Monday night was fantastic. “The Murley Silver Band created a garden party atmosphere,” she said.
“It was wonderful to see the kids behind the barbecues,” said Olivia, who went on to say that Dianna and the other volunteers are “planting the seed of community work” in the younger generation. “That’s one of the many things I have picked up to share with others,” she said. 

On Sunday last, Olivia and the walk crew were at an evening row with Row the Erne and enjoyed a Big Lunch on the Menapian currach. It was Olivia’s birthday so the two teams celebrated with her in the pouring rain! 

The starting line for the Great Big Walk, a UK wide event which sees five teams of walkers stroll across the UK to celebrate initiatives in their area, was in Jo Cox’s home town of Batley, West Yorkshire, and all of the walkers are walking towards home in time for The Big Lunch, which is on the same date as The Great Get Together to mark Jo Cox’s anniversary this year.  

Over the past few days, the Northern Ireland walkers were going through Armagh, Newry, Newcastle, the Ards Peninsula and ending in Belfast today, Sunday, June 18 at a huge intercultural Big Lunch in the Holyland area. 
People can get involved in The Great Big Walk by showing support and cheering the walkers along.