3 Dads Walking to be honoured at Pride of Britain Awards

Andy Airey, 61, Mike Palmer, 57, and Tim Owen, 52, forged a close bond when they met through the suicide prevention charity, Papyrus.

Andy, from Cumbria, has completed charity walks as part of the 3 Dads Walking Challenge, a partnership based on shared loss.

READ MORE: 3 Dads Walking to be honoured at Pride of Britain Awards

READ MORE: 3 Dads Walking challenge raises £1 million

Sophie Airey (Image: Newsquest)

All three fathers lost their daughters to suicide and have raised more than £1 million through their walking challenges.

Their initial target was £3,000. Their current total raised for Papyrus stands at £1,004,709.

Andy has been announced as this year's Pride of Britain Special Recognition award winner.

Sophie Airey (Image: Newsquest)

Sophie Airey was 29-years-old when she took her own life on December 19 in 2018.

Mike's daughter Beth was just 17 when she took her own life in March 2020, a few days after Tim's 18-year-old daughter Emily, who like Beth, felt overwhelmed by pandemic restrictions, passed away.

The 3 Dads met hundreds of people affected by suicide over the course of their 15-day walk and campaigned for additional mental health support in schools.

Sophie Airey (Image: Newsquest)

Their next walk saw the dads trekking 550 miles over 31 days, taking in all four UK parliaments, ending on October 10, World Mental Health Day, and taking their fund-raising total to more than £1 million.

Andy says: "During our walk we met very many suicide-bereaved parents, all of them said the same thing; it was only after they lost their child that they discovered that suicide was the biggest killer of under 35's in the UK; they all asked, 'If suicide is the biggest threat to our children’s lives, why is no one talking about it?'"

Mike adds: "3 Dads Walking is not a club I want to belong to, but it gives us, as fathers, an opportunity to fight back and maybe make a difference. We are all too aware that there are more young people out there falling into despair and see no way out other than to end their own precious lives. There is help out there. There is hope and that's what 3 Dads Walking is about, it's about hope."