A CUMBRIAN father has received an MBE at Windsor Castle for his part in the 3 Dads Walking campaign - started by the fathers in honour of their three daughters who took their own lives.

Penrith man Andy Airey was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours list for "services to the prevention of young suicide" alongside Mike Palmer and Tim Owen.

The trio received their awards on Tuesday, November 12 from Prince William at a ceremony in Windsor Castle.

The trio chat to Prince WilliamThe trio chat to Prince William (Image: PA) The 3 Dads Walking completed their first challenge in 2021 by walking 300 miles between their homes to raise funds for North-West based charity PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide.

A year later they doubled that distance by trekking 600 miles, walking between the parliaments of all four nations from Northern Ireland through Scotland, Wales and England.    

Fiona, Andy and their son Gregor at Windsor Castle Fiona, Andy and their son Gregor at Windsor Castle (Image: Supplied) This year they trekked 500 miles from Scotland to Norwich, pushing their fundraising total to almost £1.5million.

Speaking about receiving his MBE, Andy said: "It was a real honour. Obviously when we first lost Sophie we didn't expect anything like this - initially we were just trying to raise a bit of money, and to raise the profile of PAPYRUS.

"Then when Mike, Tim and I got together at the start of 2020 it was again very much the idea of raising funds and the 3 Dads Walking grew arms and legs very quickly.

"This is the recognition that we have done something positive, which is really good."

Andy said that after initially congratulating the three dads, Prince William asked them if they had received his letters that he has sent to them at various points in their challenges.

The 3 Dads with their MBE'sThe 3 Dads with their MBE's (Image: PA) He said: "He was just very supportive of what we have done and what we were doing."

Andy said that the award has given the trio 'great encouragement' in the mission they first set out to achieve. He said: "You quite often think back to that day we found out Sophie had died and being in an awful state. It's the worst possible thing that could happen to you.

"There's is no way that we could have second guessed that it could come to this, but it is just so positive to be recognised like this - it shows that the stuff we have been talking about has been heard and so it's a great encouragement and inspiration to keep going on."