'My GP prescribed Parkrun - it changed my life'

When Scott Storey was first given a "social prescription" to join a local Parkrun event by his GP, he was on 16 different types of medication and had recently attempted to take his own life.

Two years after first taking part in the Hillsborough Parkrun in Sheffield, the 38-year-old has seen his physical and mental health improve drastically and has become a father for the first time.

Storey now hopes to be off all medication by July, having previously taken tablets for ulcerative colitis as well as antidepressants.

He said: "The big thing with Parkrun which really surprised me was the community aspect - they've become a second family to me."

Storey said his mental health issues began after he was physically assaulted when he was 16, and "every little knock in life hit me a bit harder and they kept building up".

He made multiple suicide attempts from the early 2000s onwards, and it was after one in 2024 that his GP suggested a social prescription.

The BBC Action Line provides information and details about a range of mental health support organisations.

Social prescribing "connects people to activities, groups, and services in their community to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing", according to the NHS.

Living in Walkley, he was signposted to his weekly run in Hillsborough Park.

Parkrun welcomes all ages and abilities, but Storey said he was worried he would be too slow and unfit to keep pace with the group.

"I never once felt out of place; we've got some of the best runners in Yorkshire and they cheer on the slowest people and run alongside you - which you don't get at most sporting things."

He has been a regular ever since and has also volunteered to run the event's junior version on Sundays.

"If you told me two years ago I'd be into running, I would've laughed in your face," he said.

Yet from those early beginnings, he has completed the Sheffield Half Marathon three times and even run a 12-hour, 15-mile ultramarathon in Rotherham.

Research by Sport England found social prescribing can "substantially reduce" pressure on the NHS, including through reduced GP appointments, hospital admissions, and A&E visits.

Patients can be directed towards different groups and activities, such as the arts or volunteering, depending on their interests and abilities.

Dr Ollie Hart, a GP and clinical director of the Heeley Plus Primary Care Network in Sheffield, said: "What really matters is having a good coaching-style conversation to understand what makes someone tick. It's about finding out what will help them get their mojo back and feel good about themselves.

"A lot of people accumulate all these diagnoses and medications, but it doesn't help them feel good about themselves, and if someone doesn't have a sense of self-worth and that they're leading a life they value, they don't get well.

"Typically, you start with someone in the surgery who's down in the dumps, isolated, or who might not think life's worth living. The first step is to recognise it's not just about their medical diagnoses that's contributing."

He added: "It helps individuals, but also creates the context for a community to be more health-creating".

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