Petition Campaign of the Year Award: winner announced

• Petitions Committee

The winners were Mike, Andy and Tim – 3 Dads Walking.

3 Dads Walking, Mike, Andy and Tim, all lost a daughter to suicide. They have been campaigning to raise awareness of suicide prevention ever since.

Over 160,000 people signed their petition to make suicide prevention a compulsory part of the school curriculum. MPs debated it in Parliament in March 2023.

In 2021, they walked 300 miles between each of their homes to raise awareness of the issue. They then did a second walk of over 600 miles between the four parliaments of the UK in 2022, gathering signatures for their petition along the way.

In response to the petition, the Government said it would consider the issue as part of its review of the RSHE curriculum. The 3 Dads have since met with the Prime Minster, and had meetings with the Education Secretary. They were also invited to work with the Department of Education on its review of the RSHE curriculum.

To collect their Award, Mike, Andy and Tim came to the UK Parliament Week Awards ceremony in March 2024. They were presented their Award for Petition Campaign of the Year 2023 by Cat Smith MP, the Chair of the Petitions Committee.

Chair's comment

The Chair of the Petitions Committee, Cat Smith MP said:

"Congratulations to the winners of the Petition Campaign of the Year Award, 3 Dads Walking.

The Petitions Committee were impressed by their dedication, determination, and passion for securing tangible change to benefit young people.

Their campaign is a testament to the power of the public to use petitions to raise awareness of issues that might otherwise struggle to be heard in Parliament.

It helped start a national conversation about an issue that many would agree isn’t talked about enough and I’m sure they will have helped to save lives as result.

I know that that their story will inspire others to campaign on issues that matter to them, start petitions and engage with Parliament in the future."

They were also congratulated by the Speaker of the House of Commons.

3 Dads Walking said of their win:

"We were delighted to receive the Petition Campaign of the Year Award in recognition of the effort we’ve put in on getting suicide prevention added to the school curriculum.

As part of our campaign we have visited the Palace of Westminster on many occasions for meetings but it was a very special experience to be invited into the Speaker’s House for the awards presentation. It was a privilege to meet Speaker Lindsay Hoyle and share our story with him.

We are grateful to the team at the Petitions Committee for helping us along our way and would encourage others who are considering a government petition to get involved with this accessible democratic process."

Cat Smith MP also commended the other nominees for the Award for their dedication and hard work in her speech at the ceremony.

The other nominees:

Jade’s Law

After Jade Ward was murdered by her ex-partner in 2021, her family and a friend, Edwin Duggan, started a petition to automatically suspend the parental rights of a parent found guilty of murdering the other parent. 

Owen’s Law

The Carey family lost their brother and son Owen, who died due to an anaphylactic reaction after eating food at a restaurant, which he had been assured was safe to eat. They started a petition to change the law around allergy labelling in UK restaurants.

In 2022, Beckie Ramsay won the Petition Campaign of the Year Award, after starting her petition on the inclusion of water safety in the school curriculum, following her son’s tragic passing. Watch our video to find out more.

Further information

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