Three northern dads have completed the challenge of walking 600-miles across the UK to raise awareness for suicide prevention.
Andy Airey, Mike Palmer, and Tim Owen – who are known as ‘3 Dads Walking’, and famously completed a 300-mile 15-day trek between their homes in Greater Manchester, Cumbria, and Norfolk back in October 2021 – took on an even greater challenge in the name of charity this time round when they set out to walk to each of the Parliaments in the UK.
This 600-mile walk was once again in memory of their teenage daughters, who each took their own lives – 18-year-old Emily Owen and 17-year-old Beth Palmer, who both died in March 2020, and Sophie Airey, who died just before Christmas in 2018.
Just like last time, Andy, Mike, and Tim are continuing to raise funds for youth suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS through their challenges.
They want to prevent other families from going through the same heartbreak they suffered.
They also want to ensure that suicide prevention is a mandatory subject in every school in the UK, and started an online petition calling on the governments to take action – which now has over 115,000 signatures and counting.
This means it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
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Andy, Mike, and Tim’s four-week journey began in Belfast back in September, where they walked to the Northern Ireland assembly at Stormont, before flying to Edinburgh to continue walking from the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, and making their way down the country through the North West to the Welsh Assembly at the Senedd.
The last leg of their heroic 600-mile walk saw them make their way to the capital, and cross the finish line at the Houses of Parliament in London.
Arriving at Westminster, Mike Palmer – from Sale in Trafford – said he knows all their daughters would be proud of the work they are doing, and hopes that by raising awareness of suicide at school, it will give young people and their families “a second chance”.
“If Beth, Sophie and Emily had been more aware, they could still be here now,” he told BBC Manchester.
“We know, and these people here with us now, who have also lost loved ones, also know, if you put these changes into place, I believe it’ll make a massive difference and save lives.”
The trio were supported and cheered-on by members of the public every step of the way as they completed their trek yesterday.
Beth Palmer, Sophie Airey, and Emily Owen / Credit: 3 Dads Walking
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, but eventually going on to raise nearly £900,000 thanks to public support.
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As well as worthy donations from people right across the UK, their fundraising efforts also caught the attention of some big-name Hollywood stars the first time round, including James Bond actor Daniel Craig, and Nicole Kidman – who both donated £10,000 each.
Daniel Craig said he was “very moved by the indescribable pain”, while Nicole Kidman named them “three completely brilliant dads, doing a completely brilliant thing, to benefit so many.”
The dads hope completing this challenge will take them past the £1 million milestone.
Keen to show your support? Their challenge may be complete, but you can still donate to Andy, Mike, and Tim’s trek via their JustGiving page here, and find more information about the inspiration for their journey and what donations will go towards on the 3 Dads Walking website.
Featured Image – 3 Dads Walking
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This Manchester hotel has a Bonfire Night ‘escape’ package for pets to help keep them calm
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most luxurious hotels is transforming into the ultimate pet refuge again over the firework season.
Bonfire Night is loved across the UK for the spectacular firework displays and all the festive-themed activities that go along with it, but the November annual event isn’t so fun for our four-legged friends, as fireworks can be frightening to pets due to loud bangs, flashing lights, and the unpleasant strong smell of spent explosives.
With multiple bangs occurring from numerous displays too, pets are rarely able to pinpoint where the booming explosions are coming from, only making it more terrifying for them.
This is why, after becoming a huge success following its launch last year, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in the heart of the city centre has brought back its special ‘Bonfire Night Escape’ escape package, turning the already pet-friendly hotel into a firework-free sanctuary.
The hotel‘s year-round ‘PAWfect Stay’ package includes any dog staying at no extra cost, plus a pet tuckbox, a guide to the best dog-friendly places in the city, and a toy waiting for them in the room, but this fireworks season, pet owners will also get a luxury hamper including Pet Remedy’s ‘Party Season Survival Kit’
The kit comes together with a range of fast-acting products to help immediately in stressful situations such as fireworks, and includes calming spray, a plug diffuser, and some calming wipes too.
On top of that, dog owners can also take advantage of the hotel’s Music Concierge service, which allows guests to request a record player and vinyls to be placed in the room ahead of check in – with lots of classical and relaxing music records available to distract anxious pets from the noise of Bonfire Night celebrations.
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel has a Bonfire Night ‘escape’ package to help keep pets calm / Credit: Elisha Terada (via Unsplash)
The award-winning The Refuge Bar and Restaurant inside the hotel also offers a menu of carefully-curated dog treats throughout the week, as well as doggy Sunday roasts all Sunday.
David Lockhart, who is the General Manager at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, said he likes to think of the hotel as a “home-away-from-home for our guests”.
“Our top priority is making sure everyone is feeling safe and comfortable,” he added. “We can’t wait to welcome our November guests and help them care for their four-legged family members, giving them everything they need.”
The Bonfire Night Escape package at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is available to book from Friday 1 November, subject to availability, and you can request the package via the hotel concierge or by emailing [email protected] to book.
Scissor Sisters confirm reunion after more than a decade ahead of massive Manchester gig
Danny Jones
Still a firm cult favourite from the 2000s, Scissor Sisters are officially back and are bringing a special reunion tour to Manchester and the UK and Ireland at large.
The American outfit were one of the biggest and most well-known pop groups on this side of the Atlantic during their heyday, notching three BRIT Awards and two number-one albums.
Starting out in New York, like many bands in an oversaturated music market, they ended up proving to be much more popular here in Britain than they ever did in the US, not to mention becoming real icons among the LGBTQ+ community.
And now, over a decade later, the Scissor Sisters are set to repay the likes of Manchester, Leeds, London and more with a series of comeback shows, including one at Co-op Live arena – a gig which the venue has already teased earlier this week.
Confirming the reunion on social media on Thursday, 10 October, the band said: “Exciting news, for the first time in over a decade, we will come together again, live next May across the UK and Ireland.
“And for the first time ever, our debut album Scissor Sisters will be performed in full in celebration of its 20th anniversary – alongside all the other Scissor hits from along the way… See you very soon. Jake, Babydaddy, Del.”
Long-time fans were quick to notice that there was no mention of fellow founding member Ana Matronic nor former drummer Randy Real; the band themselves told BBC that the current lineup following their indefinite hiatus is by no means a way of replacing anyone but does give them a chance “to get some people on stage and ask some friends to do fun things.”
Frontman Shears’ 2023 Cabaret co-star, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, was also teased with a possible appearance on the Scissor Sisters reunion tour. Either way, they’ve promised a “little bit of chaos, anarchy” and an “‘anything can happen’ energy again.”
It’s been 12 whole years since we last saw them out on the road, so it’s only fitting that they give us a dozen UK/IE dates, starting at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena before bringing the comeback party down the home stretch in Dublin.
Scissor Sisters are set to stun the Manchester crowd with their Co-op Live debut on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, with special guest support from Alison Goldfrapp of the iconic electronic music duo, and we truly really can’t wait to roll back the years with them.
Pre-sale goes live on Wednesday, 6 November at 10am which you can access via their website and general admission tickets will be available from the same time the following Friday, 8 November.
We can’t wait to hear all the favourites – ‘Filthy/Gorgeous’, ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin”, ‘Take Your Mama’ and more – but, until then, the announcements coming out of Manchester’s biggest new music venue just don’t stop…
Emily Sergeant -
11th October 2022 
