Walks in Britain’s park help save the health service £111m, claims new report

THE UK’S parks save the NHS more than £111m every year, according to a new report.

Regular users of parks and green spaces are likely to be healthier and less likely to visit their GP, research by Fields in Trust suggests. The charity estimates such spaces provide more than £34bn of wellbeing benefits in total, by improving mental and physical health. According to previous research by Fields in Trust, 16 per cent of people had found their local park or green space under threat.

The charity’s chief executive Helen Griffiths said: “At a time when parks and green spaces are under threat, this is valuable evidence that the loss of green space is hugely damaging to people’s welfare.

“The research also confirms that any decision by a public body to remove a park or green space is completely short-sighted – and will in fact likely cost more money than is saved. In health alone, parks and green spaces saved the NHS at least £111m per year through prevented GP visits – enough to pay for more than 3,500 nurses.”

The Duke of Cambridge, president of Fields in Trust, said parks “quite simply make us happier”.

The NHS cost saving in the report, Revaluing Parks and Green Spaces,

is based only on prevented GP appointments and does not include savings from non-referrals for treatments and prescriptions.

Fields in Trust protects more than 2,700 parks and green spaces in the UK.

Its new five-year strategy aims for 75 per cent of the UK population to be within a 10-minute walk of a protected park or green space by 2022.

A foreword by the Duke of Cambridge said: “By protecting these spaces in perpetuity, Fields in Trust works to ensure that our children and grandchildren will have places to run, move, breathe and play.

“Access to parks and green spaces can help us to stay physically and mentally well, reduce social isolation and instil pride in our local communities.”