Latest news with #MikePalmer
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Three Dads' pride at suicide prevention lessons in schools
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 move comes alongside plans to include anti-misogyny in sex education classes. An astonishing journey The road to this point has been long in more ways than one for the 3 Dads 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 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 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 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 Mike and Tim say they are just three suicide-bereaved dads who put on their hiking 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. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
ITV News
15-07-2025
- Health
- ITV News
Suicide prevention will be taught in schools following campaign by 3 Dads Walking
Three dads who have been campaigning to get suicide prevention taught in schools are celebrating a major victory after the government announced it will be added to new education guidance. Mike Palmer, from Sale, Cumbria's Andy Airey and Tim Owen, from Norfolk, known as 3 Dads Walking - all lost their daughters to suicide. They have been calling for suicide prevention to be a mandatory part of the curriculum, to ensure pupils are equipped "with the life skills to keep them safe in later life". The news follows a meeting with the prime minister and the education secretary at the beginning of July, and now new guidance has been released by the government on relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). It also includes requirements on helping children with their mental health, including working with mental health professionals to discuss suicide prevention 'in an age-appropriate way'. Children will be taught the importance of 'grit and resilience' in order to help them 'feel able to take on challenges and risks'. Andy, Mike and Tim Owen – who founded suicide prevention charity 3 Dads Walking in memory of their daughters – said: 'Giving schools permission to talk about suicide prevention means more young people can be supported to open up about difficult feelings and know where to find help. 'We know, from painful personal experience, how much this matters. This change will save lives.' Schools will be able to implement the guidance from September this year, and must follow it from September 2026. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'Children today are bombarded by content – whether it's Instagram influencers with impossible expectations for how we should look, or algorithms that trap young people in a vortex of vices from gambling to drugs. 'Our new RSHE curriculum will equip kids to develop positive attitudes from the get-go, building their resilience to harmful content in an age-appropriate way. 'With mental health, just like physical health, prevention is so much more powerful than the cure. "So we're going further in making sure that once children are old enough to understand issues around self-harm and suicide in secondary school, they get the tools to distinguish fact from fiction, and reject the vile content that trades in encouraging young kids to harm themselves or worse." The Three dads have raised £1.5 million for for the suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS in memory of their daughters. They recently completed their fourth fundraising walk which took more than 130 miles around the Anglesey coastal path. They completed their first challenge in 2021 by walking 300-miles. A year later they trekked 600-miles, walking between the parliaments of all four nations from Northern Ireland through Scotland, Wales and England. Last year they walked a further 500 miles from Scotland down through the eastern counties of England. In November they were honoured with MBEs in the King's Birthday Honours List. In other changes to the curriculum, children will be taught how to combat misogyny and resist so-called incel culture under new guidance for schools. The guidance on relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) focuses on helping boys find positive role models amid the increasing spread of sexist online content from 'manosphere' influencers such as Andrew Tate. It also stresses the need to avoid 'stigmatising boys for being boys'. As well as lessons on so-called incel (involuntary celibate) culture, secondary schools will be required to provide young people with greater awareness of AI, deepfakes and links between pornography and misogyny. The guidance comes as the Department for Education (DfE) warned that misogynistic attitudes had reached 'epidemic scale' among young people, with 54% of those aged 11-19 saying they had witnessed misogynist comments. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'Before I was elected to Parliament, I managed a refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence, so I have seen first-hand the devastating impact when we don't foster healthy attitudes from the youngest age. 'I want our children to be equipped to defy the malign forces that exist online. Schools and parents alike have a vital role to play, helping children identify positive role models and resist the manipulation too often used online to groom impressionable young minds.' In its manifesto last year, Labour pledged to halve the rate of violence against women and girls in 10 years. And earlier in 2025, Sir Keir Starmer praised the Netflix drama Adolescence for highlighting how misogyny had 'taken on a different form' and said he wanted a discussion on what could be done to stop young boys 'being dragged into this whirlpool of hatred and misogyny'.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sigma is on the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics and Business Intelligence
This is the first time Sigma has been recognized. SAN FRANCISCO, June 18, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sigma, the industry-leading analytics platform with unique cloud data platform write-back capabilities, today announced its recognition in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics & Business Intelligence Platforms as a Niche Player. Sigma's first-time recognition in the 2025 Magic Quadrant comes on the heels of being named the 2025 Databricks Business Intelligence Partner of the Year and for the third year in a row, Snowflake's Business Intelligence Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year. Sigma believes this first-time placement confirms what more than 1,400 customers already know: Sigma is leading the next generation of business intelligence. "Sigma was built for this moment—the convergence of AI, cloud-scale data, and the need for business agility," said Mike Palmer, CEO of Sigma. "Our 1,400-plus customers enjoy the freedom of true self-service analytics, smarter decisions through governed AI, and a platform that turns data into action through data apps." Unlike traditional platforms, Sigma puts the cloud data warehouse at the center to deliver unmatched performance, scale, and flexibility. The platform enables teams to build robust data models, analyze data at scale, and tap into warehouse-native AI—all without moving data or sacrificing governance. Sigma's spreadsheet interface makes self-service analytics a reality for business users, while more technical users can work in SQL or Python alongside them. And with Sigma's generative intelligence interface, Ask Sigma, customers can build AI into their data workflows and ask complex data questions that receive auditable answers. Sigma also makes it easier than ever to turn complex business processes into interactive, data-driven apps that combine live data, workflows, and user input directly on the customer's cloud data warehouse. As of June 18, 2025, Sigma holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Gartner® Peer Insights™ from 97 all time ratings, with 92% of customers recommending the platform. Examples of customers who have leveraged Sigma to improve business decisions can be found here. Access the full Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics & Business Intelligence Platforms to see why Sigma was recognized. Gartner Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Peer Insights and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms, 20 Dec 2024. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms, 13 June 2025, Anirudh Ganeshan, Edgar Macari, Jamie O'Brien, Kurt Schlegel, Christopher Long About Sigma Sigma is business intelligence built for the cloud. With a spreadsheet UI, business users can work in the formulas and functions they already know, while more technical users can write SQL and apply AI models to data. Sigma queries the cloud warehouse directly, making it incredibly fast and secure—data never leaves the warehouse, and Sigma can analyze billions of rows in seconds. Beyond dashboards and reports, teams use Sigma to build custom data apps, which integrate live data with end user input. Sigma is the first analytics platform to enable data write-back, and continues to lead the market with innovation across AI, reporting, and embedded analytics. View source version on Contacts press@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
18-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Sigma is on the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics and Business Intelligence
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sigma, the industry-leading analytics platform with unique cloud data platform write-back capabilities, today announced its recognition in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics & Business Intelligence Platforms as a Niche Player. 'Sigma was built for this moment—the convergence of AI, cloud-scale data, and the need for business agility,' said Mike Palmer, CEO of Sigma. Sigma's first-time recognition in the 2025 Magic Quadrant comes on the heels of being named the 2025 Databricks Business Intelligence Partner of the Year and for the third year in a row, Snowflake's Business Intelligence Data Cloud Product Partner of the Year. Sigma believes this first-time placement confirms what more than 1,400 customers already know: Sigma is leading the next generation of business intelligence. 'Sigma was built for this moment—the convergence of AI, cloud-scale data, and the need for business agility,' said Mike Palmer, CEO of Sigma. 'Our 1,400-plus customers enjoy the freedom of true self-service analytics, smarter decisions through governed AI, and a platform that turns data into action through data apps.' Unlike traditional platforms, Sigma puts the cloud data warehouse at the center to deliver unmatched performance, scale, and flexibility. The platform enables teams to build robust data models, analyze data at scale, and tap into warehouse-native AI—all without moving data or sacrificing governance. Sigma's spreadsheet interface makes self-service analytics a reality for business users, while more technical users can work in SQL or Python alongside them. And with Sigma's generative intelligence interface, Ask Sigma, customers can build AI into their data workflows and ask complex data questions that receive auditable answers. Sigma also makes it easier than ever to turn complex business processes into interactive, data-driven apps that combine live data, workflows, and user input directly on the customer's cloud data warehouse. As of June 18, 2025, Sigma holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Gartner® Peer Insights™ from 97 all time ratings, with 92% of customers recommending the platform. Examples of customers who have leveraged Sigma to improve business decisions can be found here. Access the full Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics & Business Intelligence Platforms to see why Sigma was recognized. Gartner Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Peer Insights and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms, 20 Dec 2024. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms, 13 June 2025, Anirudh Ganeshan, Edgar Macari, Jamie O'Brien, Kurt Schlegel, Christopher Long About Sigma Sigma is business intelligence built for the cloud. With a spreadsheet UI, business users can work in the formulas and functions they already know, while more technical users can write SQL and apply AI models to data. Sigma queries the cloud warehouse directly, making it incredibly fast and secure—data never leaves the warehouse, and Sigma can analyze billions of rows in seconds. Beyond dashboards and reports, teams use Sigma to build custom data apps, which integrate live data with end user input. Sigma is the first analytics platform to enable data write-back, and continues to lead the market with innovation across AI, reporting, and embedded analytics.
ITV News
14-06-2025
- Health
- ITV News
Three Dads Walking set off on new fundraising challenge
Three fathers who lost their daughters to suicide have begun a fourth challenge to help save young lives. On the eve of Father's Day, Andy Airey from Cumbria, Mike Palmer from North Wales and Tim Owen from Norfolk started a 130-mile trek around the Anglesey Coastal Path in North Wales. Their walk will raise money for the national charity PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide, which says it might have to cut back on its HOPELINE247 service through the night, when children and young people are struggling through their darkest hours. The dads are aiming to raised £30,000 by covering more than 130 miles in eight days. Andy Airey, who lost his 29-year-old daughter Sophie to suicide in 2018, said: 'PAPYRUS is an amazing charity which offers vital support. 'HOPELINE247 is now under threat and, as dads who have suffered the indescribable loss of a child to suicide, we are determined to do what we can to maintain this life-saving service round-the-clock.' The 3 Dads Walking, who each live in rural parts of the UK, will also use their Anglesey trek to highlight how people living in remote areas can feel isolated, physically and emotionally. Mike Palmer, whose 17-year-old daughter Beth died by suicide in 2020, said: 'In rural areas mental health services and suicide prevention support is in limited supply. That means in communities like these HOPELINE247 may be the only thing that can help to keep young people safe from suicide, particularly in the darkest hours in the middle of the night when other services are not available to them.' The 3 Dads Walking have raised more than £1.4 million for PAPYRUS since completing their first challenge in 2021 by walking 300-miles. A year later they trekked 600-miles, walking between the parliaments of all four nations from Northern Ireland through Scotland, Wales and England. Last year they walked a further 500 miles from Scotland down through the eastern counties of England. A few months later they were honoured with MBEs in the King's Birthday Honours List. Throughout they have been campaigning to see suicide prevention included in the school curriculum. They say children and young people need to be taught life-skills to help keep them safe from suicide. Tim Owen, who lost his 19-year-old daughter Emily to suicide in 2020, says this challenge is all about redoubling their fundraising efforts for PAPYRUS and raising awareness of mental health and suicide. 'Progress is being made but the fact is we hear of more tragic stories nearly every week. 'Smashing the stigma around mental health and suicide is our goal. With every step we'll remember our girls and this gives us the courage to keep going and make a difference,' Ged Flynn, Chief Executive of PAPYRUS, says funding is urgently needed to maintain HOPELINE247 round-the-clock. 'Like many charities, we have seen a significant decline in donations since the cost-of-living crisis started to impact on the voluntary income we receive. At the same time we have seen an increase in demand for our professional services. 'Since our HOPELINE247 service went round-the-clock in the summer of 2023, we have seen an 86% increase in the number of contacts we received via text and emails. Last year there was a 66% increase in those reaching out via our webchat service. 'We are doing everything we can to protect our services, but we need help to be able to do so,' he said.
