Parkrun urges the Government to rollout ‘social prescribing’ of weekly fun run after partnership with Royal College of GPs gets people exercising and socialising
GPs are prescribing parkruns to NHS patients to get them exercising and socialising.
The parkrun charity has joined with the Royal College of GPs which is seeing family doctors increasingly suggest a local event as part of NHS “social prescribing”. The UK organisation which stages weekly 5km runs in parks in 23 countries across five continents is urging the NHS to officially recommend the event prescription.
Russ Jefferys, parkrun chief executive, said: “Participating in parkrun, whether that be walking, running, volunteering or even just coming down to your local park to be outdoors with others, is a great way for people to start to make improvements to their physical and mental health.
“With the government set to announce their 10-Year Health Plan, we believe parkrun can play a vital part in helping reduce the pressure on the NHS and creating a healthier, happier and more active nation. By expanding our parkrun practice programme we can make sure it reaches those with most to gain from taking part in it.”
Parkrun takes place every Saturday morning at over 2,000 locations including parks, stately homes, forests, lakes, beaches and nature reserves. It is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. Junior parkrun is 2km and aimed at four to 14-year-olds and their families every Sunday morning.
Regular runners can qualify for a parkrun milestone t-shirt after completing a certain number of races and enthusiasts now travel to different countries to complete the event in many locations.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the RCGP, said: “Parkruns are opportunities for people to get outside, get some exercise – whatever their fitness level – meet people, and have fun. Prevention for health is a clinical priority for the RCGP, so it’s great to see our partnership with parkrun UK – connecting GP practices to local parkrun events – see nearly 2000 practices signed up.”
It comes after a huge increase in obesity over the last two decades and as more people in the UK are living with multiple health conditions.
Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE in 2004 at Bushy Park in London. It was originally called the Bushy Park Time Trial before growing into a network of similar events and adopting the name parkrun in 2008. The first event outside the UK was launched in Zimbabwe in 2007, followed by Denmark in 2009, South Africa and Australia in 2011 and the US in 2012.
A poll of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by YouGov on behalf of parkrun, found that 65% believe GPs should prescribe parkruns, with 51% of adults agreeing that such a move could help reduce pressure on the NHS.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the RCGP, said: “As GPs we have conversations with our patients on a daily basis about changes they can make to their lifestyle to improve their overall health and wellbeing. We also increasingly work with our wider team to recommend initiatives, often in the community, that can have a positive impact on their health, so it’s really good to see from these figures that there is significant support amongst the public for such interventions.”
Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi, parkrun health partnerships lead, added: “Since we started the parkrun practice programme in 2018, we’ve seen the impact that prescribing parkrun can have on people with a range of health conditions but there is huge potential to do more by connecting every GP practice to their local parkrun event.”