Three Dads Walking: 300 Miles of Hope - with Andy Airey
Friday 22nd March 2024 (7-9pm)
@ The Studio Morland
Free, but booking essential
Talk and book launch.
In 2018 Andy’s family was shattered when his daughter Sophie took her own life. No one saw it coming, there was no warning. Lives were broken seemingly beyond repair.
As Andy began to put his life back together he was introduced to PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide, the national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide. He got involved in fundraising for the charity and soon realised the biggest difference he could make was to talk about his and his family’s experience.
In 2021 he joined with Mike and Tim, other suicide bereaved fathers; they had lost their daughters Beth and Emily to suicide at the start of lockdown and, like Andy, they were determined to make a difference. Together they became 3 Dads Walking. Mike, Tim and Andy. 3 ordinary dads from normal homes in different parts of the country who would never have met if suicide had not united them in one cause.
In 2021 they completed a walk between their homes to show that suicide could happen to any family anywhere in the country The challenge? Andy lives near Penrith in Cumbria, Mike in Manchester and Tim lives near to Kings Lynn in Norfolk! By walking 300 miles they raised over £600,000 for the PAPYRUS. Along the way they met many other suicide-bereaved parents who shared their stories. Like them, they hadn’t realised that suicide is the biggest killer of young people in the UK, and many asked “why aren’t we talking about this?”
The 3 Dads were inspired to walk again, this time the focus was getting suicide prevention added to the school curriculum as a compulsory subject. In 2022 they walked between all 4 Parliament buildings of the UK (over 600 miles) and asked people to sign their petition asking Government to make suicide prevention a compulsory part of the school curriculum – it received over 160,000 signatures and was debated in parliament.
Subsequently the 3 Dads were invited to meet the Prime Minister at Downing Street and Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education. They are now working with the team at the DfE to help them embed suicide prevention into the curriculum.
They continue to talk about their girls, the walks and their campaign. Talking about suicide and suicide prevention helps break the stigma around the subject and encourages people to talk to their own children about their concerns.
They are determined to do what they can to prevent other families suffer the same devastating loss and crushing grief. Talking about suicide saves lives.