New UK-wide suicide-prevention challenge for 3 Dads Walking sees them take in all parliaments

Mike Palmer, one of the 3 Dads Walking, speaks to ITV Granada Reports' Victoria Grimes about their new challenge.

Three dads who raised nearly a £1 million after losing their daughters to suicide have announced they are taking on another huge challenge.

Mike Palmer, from Greater Manchester, Andy Airey from Cumbria and Tim Owen, from Norfolk, known as 3 Dads Walking, will be walking to the Parliaments of the UK in a 600-mile mission to raise funds for suicide prevention charity Papyrus.

The trio caught the attention of Hollywood stars Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, among others, when they completed a 300-mile sponsored walk between their respective homes in 2021.

Its aim was to discuss mental health and raise awareness of suicide prevention - and it inspired many to open up about their own experience of grief.

The group hope their latest challenge will help encourage people to “quash the taboo” and get suicide awareness on the school curriculum.

Mike Palmer, from Sale, lost his daughter Beth during the Covid lockdown, and says it is important to keep raising awareness.

"It's going to be a long way and we're going to have to look after our feet," he says. "But myself, Andy and Tim always felt although this had to happen, we had to do it.

"There was never a question, when the last walk last year finished we knew our work wasn't done, so it's important."

Mike said he was partly motivated to “do something positive” due to his own regrets over the death of his 17-year-old daughter, Beth, in March 2020.

"I would never have put Beth and suicide in the same sentence in a million years, we were the family it would never happen to us," he added.

"Beth, bright, bubbly, full of life, full of ambition, she was there one minute and gone the next.

"What does it do for myself, Andy and Tim? It gives us point, it gives us purpose, if we can make a difference, good.

"It does help us as well, it drives us on because we do have a belief in what we do is the right thing."

Mike says the trio were "absolutely overwhelmed" by the reaction to their first walk, having set themselves a modest target to raise around £10,000.

They eventually earned nearly £900,000 in sponsorship, thanks in part to donations from the likes of film stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, and hope their next challenge will take them past the £1 million milestone.

They were joined along the route between their family homes in Cumbia, Greater Manchester and Norfolk by many bereaved parents keen to talk about their own experiences.

"We raise the money for a wonderful charity Papyrus, who are dedicated to preventing young suicide.

"They run their Hopeline UK, a first call number you can ring if you are a young person struggling.

"It's all about awareness and education, if you are aware about what's happening to you, your own feelings, you'll know where to reach out."

The challenge

The fundraisers, who did not know each other before being bereaved, said they want the school curriculum to include compulsory age-appropriate lessons on suicide awareness, in an attempt to encourage children to talk about their emotions and reach out.

The three men will visit Stormont in Belfast on September 9 as a prelude to starting their walk from Holyrood in Edinburgh on September 10, World Suicide Prevention Day.

They will then head down to the Senedd in Cardiff, before completing their trek to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster on October 10, World Mental Health Day.

They have been offered free accommodation by bereaved families, supporters and businesses along the route, and will be joined by a support team throughout.

The dads now hope their latest challenge will help put suicide prevention and awareness on the National Curriculum.

Mike says: "We want a far more robust education system. We have to get a balance between academic qualifications and basic life qualifications.

"Educate them from an early age, build on that through early age so they can carry these life skills on for the rest of their lives so they can look after themselves but also those they come into contact with."

Ged Flynn, chief executive of suicide prevention charity Papyrus, praised the trio for "channelling their energy to help save young lives".

He said: "They have already helped to start conversations in homes where families were unwilling to discuss suicide.

"It is remarkable that these proud fathers, who are each trying to deal with their own grief in their own way, have found a positive path forward together."

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