Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Pocket parkrun in St Neots are partnering to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service.
The NHS in England has partnered with parkrun UK, encouraging NHS staff and volunteers, as well as local communities, to ‘parkrun for the NHS’ at parkrun events on Saturday 8 July or junior parkrun events on Sunday 9 July.
The event is an opportunity for parkruns and their local communities to acknowledge the huge contribution that the NHS makes to the health of the nation and celebrate all the staff and volunteers, past and present, who have made the NHS what it is.
Before relocating to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in 2019, Royal Papworth Hospital had been based in the south Cambridgeshire village of Papworth Everard since 1918.
To mark its heritage and to celebrate 75 years of the NHS, it is teaming up with Pocket parkrun in St Neots and encouraging people to attend or volunteer at the event while wearing blue, the colour most commonly associated with the NHS.
The partnership will not only recognise and celebrate this huge milestone for the NHS, it will also inspire many more people to get involved with their local parkrun or junior parkrun and to make steps towards a more healthy, active lifestyle.
This is the second time parkrun UK and the NHS have worked together in this way. In 2018, for the 70th anniversary of the NHS, an incredible UK-wide celebration was held which saw more than 146,000 people taking part.
Eilish Midlane, Chief Executive Officer for Royal Papworth Hospital, said: “I’m delighted that we are teaming up with the team at Pocket parkrun in St Neots in celebration of the NHS’ 75th anniversary.
“While we have a number of national services at Royal Papworth, the majority of our patients come from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough region and we are proud to be the heart and lung hospital serving the area.
“As a specialist cardiothoracic centre we want to do all we can to encourage people to have a healthy lifestyle. Physical activity is important for both heart and lung health, so please do join us in St Neots – or participate in your local parkrun – to mark this milestone for the NHS.”
Steve from Pocket parkrun added: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Royal Papworth Hospital as part of the NHS’ 75th anniversary.
“Whether you would like to run, jog, walk or come and volunteer by being a marshall, everyone is welcome both on the 8 July and anytime either before or after. We rely on volunteers to run the event and always love to see new people taking part.”
Anyone wishing to participate needs to register in advance on the parkrun website.