UK partnership announced between parkrun and Royal College of General Practitioners

A healthy living initiative between parkrun UK and the Royal College of General Practitioners is set to be launched.
The aim of the partnership is to encourage healthcare staff, patients and carers to become more active in a bid to improve health outcomes and lower medication prescriptions.
GP surgeries will be encouraged to signpost patients to their local parkrun event, which continues to grow in popularity around the country, in a bid to improve people’s health.
There are 535 parkrun events that are held every Saturday morning in local parks and are free for anybody to participate in. The 5K race is run entirely by volunteers and they are accessible for people of all ages and abilities.
Despite the event featuring the word ‘run’ in the name participants can walk or jog and there is no pressure on how long it takes to complete the course.
It is hoped the initiative will help get more people active and reduce their risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Head of health and wellbeing at parkru, Chrissie Wellingto, said: “Our research tells us that GPs and other practice staff are already signposting people to parkrun to great effect and we want to scale this up.
“This exciting and game-changing initiative with RCGP is a huge step forward in helping us to encourage GP practices across the country to forge really beneficial partnerships with their local parkruns, and for all staff and patients to realise the wide-ranging health benefits that parkrun participation can bring.”
Dr Andrew Boyd, a RCGP clinical champion for physical activity and lifestyle, added: “Inactivity is a leading cause of premature illness and death in the UK. GPs and their teams play a key role in encouraging and empowering their patients to get more active in the best interests of their health.
He added: “parkrun provides an accessible, non-intimidating local opportunity for patients and staff to increase their activity levels, and have fun doing it, all in the great outdoors – and for free!”
Earlier this month, our Low Carb Program, which helps people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes to improve their health, received QISMET approval to be recommended on the NHS.