THREE fathers who lost young daughters to suicide have said they are 'delighted' to have secured a parliamentary debate into whether suicide prevention should be implemented into the school curriculum. 

3 Dads Walking, who have raised over £1m as well as suicide awareness by trekking across the UK, continue to shine a light on young people's 'biggest killer'. 

The three men forged a close bond when they met through the suicide prevention charity, Papyrus, following the loss of their teenage children.

Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen met Nick Fletcher MP at Westminster, chair of the petitions committee, to discuss the need for suicide prevention education in schools last Wednesday. 

Andy Airey, from Penrith said: "[Nick Fletcher] said he thinks it'll be an absolutely packed debate, lots of parliamentarians he's been speaking to have been interested in the debate.

"They want to learn more, which is what we need, to get the decision makers to understand what we're actually talking about. 

"It's stupid if we don't do it, suicide is the biggest killer for young people in this country. But at the moment, schools don't have to talk about it, which is bonkers.

"Schools are obliged to do things about drugs, knife crime and radicalisation but none of these things are a bigger risk than suicide," he said. 

The push towards a parliamentary debate comes after over 150,000 people signed a petition advocating for further prevention education in a ' safe and age-appropriate' way. 

Andy said they are expecting the debate to go ahead in parliament in March. 

"It's a great step forward.

"We're still waiting a response from Gillian Keegan (Secretary of State for Education). We've written to her three times, and have yet to have a response - hopefully we'll hear something soon. A response would be greatly appreciated," Andy added. 

READ MORE: Cumbrian dad out of 3 Dads Walking honoured with special recognition award