The National Health Service celebrates 75 years of honourable service today.

In aid of the celebrations, the public are encouraged to wear blue to walk, jog, run or volunteer this Saturday at Bournemouth, Poole, Moors Valley, Lymington Woodside, or Upton House Parkrun events to help celebrate 75 years of the NHS.

Matt Thomas, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of University Hospitals Dorset expressed his gratitude for the service, saying: “For me, the 75 years of the NHS is not about the institution as much as it is about the people who make it up.”

“There are many woes with industrial action and morale being talked about and waiting, this at the heart of it, it's served by people who care. And that was extremely apparent from the people that I have met.”

Matt has worked for UHD for more than 35 years and attended the 75th anniversary of the NHS in Westminster today.

He added: “It was a celebration and a thank you to the people who work at the NHS as much as the NHS itself.

“I've met the most incredible people as patients during my time, but probably the thing that keeps me going to work every day is colleagues. I don't have colleagues there, I have friends there, so I think that's probably what it means to me.

Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England said: “For 75 years, the NHS, its staff and volunteers have been there for us.

“From the midwives who help bring us into the world, the GPs, practice nurses and pharmacists who are our first port of call when we are sick, the nurses, doctors and other clinicians who use their expertise to care for us in our time of need, the porters and cleaners who keep our hospitals moving, and the hundreds of thousands of dedicated staff and volunteers in between.”

Chrissie Wellington, Global Head of Health, and Wellbeing at parkrun said: “We are thrilled to be joining forces with the NHS across the UK to celebrate its 75th anniversary. ‘Parkrun for the NHS’ is the perfect way for us to increase awareness of parkrun across the health sector while at the same time paying tribute to the enormous and incredibly valuable contribution of NHS staff and volunteers to the health of our nation.”

For more information about parkrun, visit www.parkrun.org.uk.