Across the UK and beyond, more than 70 events took place, bringing together link workers, partners, community groups, and people with lived experience. There was plenty to celebrate, but also a strong sense that social prescribing is increasingly becoming part of how we think about health.
At its core, the day was about recognising the people doing the work every day, particularly Social Prescribing Link Workers and others in similar roles, and the difference it makes. One of the most powerful reminders of that came from Andy Hughes from Nuneaton, who shared his experience of social prescribing on the BBC, after finding himself in a mental health crisis 18 months ago.
He said:
If you feel like you are struggling, I would say, if you get offered it, give it a chance. Because it's changed my life. You feel like, not only are you getting support but you're part of the process of supporting other people as well - which is massive for you.
It helps where medicine can't help. It just does.
It is a simple message, but it captures something important. Social prescribing is not about services, it is about people feeling seen, connected, and able to take part again.
Social prescribing on the global map
Alongside events happening locally, we also brought people together in Parliament to mark the day and launch the new World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Social Prescribing Policy and Development, with over 200 colleagues, partners, and stakeholders.
There was a mix of perspectives in the room from health and care, the voluntary sector, and arts and culture to people in sport and faith groups, alongside researchers and policymakers. There was also international representation from countries including Greece, Sweden, Nigeria, India, and South Korea.
That mix matters - social prescribing only works because it sits across all these spaces. During the event, a colleague from WHO described the launch as “…genuinely significant for global health.” In that room during the event there was a shared sense that things are shifting.
For the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), the designation as a WHO Collaborating Centre is an important milestone and a reflection of years of hard work by many people across the system.
Charlotte Osborn-Forde, Chief Executive of NASP
Rooted in people’s lives
Across all the conversations that took place online and at the event it was clear that social prescribing continues to be driven by relationships, between link workers and the people they support, and between organisations working locally, nationally, and globally.
The strength of social prescribing lies in its flexibility. It can look like a gardening group, a dance class, a debt advice service, or a heritage project - whatever meets someone where they are.
There is however still more to do as awareness is not universal, access is not equal, and link workers are often navigating stretched systems.
We also heard from NASP Chair Kamila Hawthorne, link worker Gay Palmer, and Dr Bogdan Chiva Giurca, NASP Clinical Lead and Global Director, who through their different perspectives, from frontline experience to international collaboration, agreed that this only works when it stays rooted in people’s real lives.
The World Health Organization in their message to all in the room, said: “Now is the time to lean into it, to invest in it, to champion it and be ambitious about what it can achieve.”
NASP Chair Kamila Hawthorne
Link worker Gay Palmer, NASP board member
Dr Bogdan Chiva Giurca, NASP Clinical Lead and Global Director
Different way of thinking about health
NASP’s event closed with broadcaster Angela Rippon speaking about dance, not as performance, but to bring people together, improve health and make people feel good.
This is what social prescribing is about in many ways. Not a programme or a policy but a different way of thinking about health. One that recognises that sometimes, what helps most is not medical treatment, but connection, purpose, and community.
Broadcaster Angela Rippon
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who marked Social Prescribing Day this year, whether by running an event, sharing a story, supporting someone, or simply being part of the work.
