Dads win battle for suicide prevention lessons

Three fathers who each lost a daughter to suicide say "lives will be saved" now the government has agreed to their call for suicide prevention to be taught in schools.

For the past four years, Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen called for awareness of the subject to be added the national curriculum, following the deaths of their daughters Sophie, Beth and Emily.

Known as the 3 Dads Walking, they said their "voices have finally been heard" after the Department for Education (DfE) announced on Tuesday that lessons discussing suicide prevention would be compulsory in secondary schools from September 2026.

Mr Airey, from Morland in Cumbria, said: "I'm absolutely gobsmacked, it doesn't feel real."

He said the trio began campaigning shortly after their first walk to raise awareness in 2021 and admitted it had at times felt "like we were swimming through treacle uphill", but now their "voices have been heard".

"We have covered a lot of ground, literally and figuratively, over the last few years, but to come to a point where a significant change is going to happen still feels quite unreal. I'm stunned."

"We are really proud of what we have achieved."

"We would have rather never have met each other," Mr Airey said.

Although the fathers "didn't choose to come down this route", once they launched 3 Dads they realised how important it was to be "open and honest" about what they were experiencing.

Mr Airey, Mr Palmer, from Sale in Greater Manchester, and Mr Owen, from Shouldham in Norfolk, met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson earlier this month, where they were told there was "potential for change" in schools.

Now, the new DfE guidance reveals secondary schools will be expected to work closely with mental health professionals to help discuss suicide prevention with pupils in an "age-appropriate way".

It said schools can follow the guidance from this year and that it would become compulsory from September 2026.

The move comes alongside plans to include anti-misogyny in sex education classes.

The road to this point has been long in more ways than one for the 3 Dads Walking.

When the trio set out on their first walk in 2021, it was to raise awareness that suicide was the biggest killer of under-35s – something none of them knew before their daughters took their own lives.

On that 300-mile (483km) trip between their three homes they raised almost £1m for suicide prevention charity Papyrus, but knew much more needed to be done.

So their second walk took in all four UK Parliaments, where they called on ministers to ensure every child was taught the skills to cope with suicidal thoughts and where to turn to for help.

As a result, they met the leaders who would be responsible for taking that decision - something all three say their daughters would find astonishing, if not a little amusing.

On a third walk they met the then leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, who heard the dads ask: "If this is the biggest killer of our young people, why aren't we talking about it?"

Finally, at a meeting at Number 10 a few weeks ago, the prime minister said the government was taking the dads' concerns seriously, something today's announcement confirms.

Andy, Mike and Tim say they are just three suicide-bereaved dads who put on their hiking boots.

But they have also proved that by walking and talking they were able to change the whole narrative around suicide and take steps towards saving young lives.

• If you have been affected by any of the issues raised you can visit the BBC's Action Line pages, or contact Papyrus, or Samaritans.

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