The ever popular Ping Pong Parlour at The Grafton centre in Cambridge hosted a pop up health check for three days, organised in partnership with Cambridge City Council and Healthy You, who provide free services for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough residents who want to change their lifestyle.

Healthy You had previously run health checks at the shopping centre, and felt that the Ping Pong Parlour would be a great location to offer the free service to shoppers and ping pong enthusiasts. The service was advertised on social media pages, through local partners and a poster was displayed in the Ping Pong Parlour window to make people aware of the upcoming event.

The checks included an NHS Health check for those aged 40-74, which involved a finger prick blood test for cholesterol and blood sugar levels. A universal health check was also available for everyone through a mini Health MoT, involving checks on blood pressure and weight as well as providing the opportunity for people to ask any questions about making positive lifestyle changes – such as healthy eating, exercise, stop smoking or reducing alcohol intake.

Over the course of three days a total of 30 full NHS Health Checks and 10 mini Health MoTs were delivered. Following the checks, patients were advised to follow up with their GP if the test results showed there was a need for further support.

The Healthy You team also alert the patient’s GP surgery with information about their screening and any follow up advice provided. From the patients seen, seven were people who were in the Ping Pong Parlour and approached Healthy You to make use of their services, the rest had seen the event advertised and visited specifically for the checks.

Lesley Godfrey, NHS Healthcheck Coordinator at Healthy You said: “People were very pleased to see us there and thought it a great idea, if surprised they were able to get a few Health Check while out shopping or enjoying table tennis with friends and family in the Ping Pong Parlour!”

Jade Griffiths, Partnerships and Insight Officer at Table Tennis England added: “It’s fantastic that the Ping Pong Parlour has provided an additional service for the people of Cambridge. We love to see Parlours being used as community hubs and offering health screenings is one way this can be achieved. The fact that there was a mixture of people visiting specifically for the health checks and others that came for the table tennis but utilised the services on offer is amazing to see!”

Healthy You hopes to make use of the Ping Pong Parlour again for future health checks. Click here to find out more about Healthy You and their services.