Every Saturday morning, whatever the weather, roughly a quarter of a million people across the UK turn up to a park, put on a barcode, and either run, walk or volunteer their way through 5 kilometres. How awesome is that?!!

That's parkrun, and it's become one of the most quietly effective mental health interventions in the country, without ever calling itself one.

What the research actually found

Sheffield Hallam University ran the biggest ever study of UK parkrun participants, nearly 80,000 people, and released the results on parkrun's 21st birthday. The numbers are properly good news.

Almost three-quarters of participants (74%) said their life satisfaction had improved through running or walking at parkrun. A near-identical number, 73%, said the same about volunteering. Happiness, mental wellbeing and a sense of personal achievement came out as the biggest drivers.

The researchers even worked out the value. Each regular participant is worth an estimated £689 a year in benefits and NHS savings, and every £1 spent on parkrun returns £16.70 in value. Free, effective, and apparently a genuinely good use of public money too.

Why it works so well

There's no entry fee, no pressure to be fast, and no minimum fitness level. You can run it, walk it, push a pram round it, or turn up with a hi-vis and a smile and marshal instead. The format does the work: same time, same place, every week, open to absolutely anyone. Isn't that brilliant? I now need to persuade my kids they want to do it too!

Worth trying

If you've got a local parkrun and you've never been, that's your nudge. Bring a friend, bring the kids, or just bring yourself and a barcode. Nobody's timing your enthusiasm for the tea and cake afterwards