'We don't want other families to experience the terrible grief we do... that's why we do what we do'

Three bereaved fathers who came together to change lives following the tragic suicides of their daughters have completed a third national charity walk.

Dubbed as the '3 Dads Walking', Mike Palmer from Greater Manchester, Andy Airey from Cumbria, and Tim Owen from Norfolk trekked 500 miles from Scotland to Norwich.

The dads havebeen walking together since 2021, and have now raised more than £1.4 million for North-West based charity PAPYRUS (Prevention of Young Suicide).

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This time, they walked through the eastern counties of England visiting some of the newly opened, or soon to open, PAPYRUS hubs in Stirling, Newcastle, Leeds and Norwich.

Speaking at the end of their 25-day trek, Mike Palmer, who lost his 17-year-old daughter Beth to suicide, said: “We walk in memory of our girls and sadly, if we don’t do something positive, we will lose more and more children.

“We have been joined by parents every day along the way and hearing their stories is absolutely heart-breaking. We don’t want other families to have to experience the terrible grief that we do, that’s why we do what we do.”

Tim Owen who lost his 19-year-old daughter Emily to suicide, thanked all those who had supported them.

“People have travelled nationally to be with us," he said. "Many of them have been bereaved by suicide, all of them saying PAPYRUS is such a fantastic charity and we need to continue preventing more suicides.”

Andy Airey, whose 29-year-old daughter Sophie took her own life, said: “It is very important to have achieved this in terms of fundraising but more importantly raising awareness of the charity and the life-saving work they do.

“This was about refocussing our efforts to help PAPYRUS achieve its goals and extend the charity across new parts of the country.”

The 3 Dads Walking completed their first challenge in 2021 by walking 300-miles. 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.

Ged Flynn, Chief Executive of PAPYRUS, which has its head offices in Warrington, paid tribute to the dads for raising awareness and spreading hope: “They’ve walked 500-miles, life with every step. Every story shared is a life saved.

“The 3 Dads Walking have already captured the nation’s hearts, after all what could be more important than the wellbeing of our children and saving young lives?”

For practical, confidential suicide prevention help and advice please contact PAPYRUS HOPELINE247 on 0800 068 4141, text 88247 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org. For more details about the 3 Dads Walking visit: www.3dadswalking.uk