First parkrun held at specialist NHS mental health inpatient facility in Preston

The Guild Lodge parkrun took place in July. Pic credit: Parkrun.

Parkrun held a landmark first NHS event at Guild Lodge in Preston which saw 50 staff and service users from the facility take part.

One of the people involved in the event was associate director of social work, Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust (LSCFT), Mike Holt.

He said he was keen to see the impact Guild parkrun would have on service users and staff lives.

“The hope is for it to continue to grow with more service users taking part by completing the course or volunteering,” he said.

Guild parkrun is a closed event supporting LSCFT staff and service users at Guild Lodge and is part of an established parkrun programme, similar to their prison events which have helped nearly 10,000 inmates stay active.

Mike explained how the idea came after a chat with a colleague about forming a running club.

He added: “My involvement with parkrun started from a conversation with my social work colleague and amazing parkrun ambassador, Katy Cleece.

“I mentioned developing our staff football team into a running club during the Covid-19 pandemic, to maintain positive social contact and improve staff physical health and mental wellbeing.

“We discussed starting a parkrun for staff and service users at Guild Lodge, a specialist mental health inpatient facility where my job was based at the time.

“This started a journey of shadowing and participating in parkrun over the next seven months to prepare for the launch of Guild parkrun.”

Chrissie Wellington, parkrun’s UK head of health and wellbeing, said: “The launch of Guild parkrun is a hugely important initiative in its own right and a manifestation of parkrun’s work to encourage more people to take part in parkrun, with a focus on those who have health conditions and who may be less active.”

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