THE Town Hall is to work with GPs to get people using parks to improve their physical and mental health.

The benefits of taking a walk through one of the borough’s green spaces or taking up an outdoor activity will be explained to patients at surgeries across Islington and Camden. The twin-borough Parks for Health programme has been described as “green social prescribing” and was launched on Thursday with a walk from Kentish Town to Caledonian Park.

Attendees were then invited to get stuck into a keep-fit aerobics session, but even a mild stroll can prove soothing to patients struggling with a range of ailments and conditions, including dementia.

Sarah-Jane Moss

The new scheme will see GPs refer residents to a “social prescribing link worker”, who will recommend suitable outdoor activities to treat a patient.

Islington’s health chief, Councillor Nurullah Turan, said: “Most of us now understand, especially post-Covid, that it’s extremely important to have access to outside places, and what better place than our parks and green spaces?”

Sarah-Jane Moss, a fitness instructor working with them, who was at Thursday’s launch, said:

“There are a lot of people with mental health conditions who feel intimidated by the gym and would rather be outside. I suffered with bad knees and lower back pain. When I went to a physio they referred me on a similar sort of health programme, showing me the best way to exercise for my condition and I got stronger.”