UK’s largest health research programme launches eight new clinics in May 2024, including Burgess Hill

Mobile clinics will visit supermarket car parks in Burgess Hill, Exeter, Malton, Northwich, Oldham, Spalding, Tewkesbury and Todmorden.

Our Future Health aims to transform the prevention, detection and treatment of conditions such as dementia, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. With up to five million volunteers right across the UK, the goal is to create one of the most detailed pictures ever of people’s health.

At their clinic appointment, as well as having a blood sample and some physical measurements taken, volunteers will be offered information about their own health, including their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In the future, volunteers will also be given the option to receive feedback about their risk of some diseases and have the opportunity to take part in cutting-edge research studies.

The programme is sending invitations to people who live near the new clinics. Anyone over the age of 18 can join by signing up online at ourfuturehealth.org.uk, completing an online health questionnaire, and booking a short clinic appointment.

Our Future Health clinic locations can be viewed on an interactive map here.

Volunteer Jean Colbourn, 76, from Norwich, shared her reasons for taking part: “My husband and I signed up to Our Future Health straightaway after getting a letter in the post – anything to do with health we usually try to get involved. My mother died at 60 from heart issues, so I’m always on keeping an eye on my own heart.

“If Our Future Health helps the millions of people with genetic health predispositions like me, that’d be a very good thing. Some people might worry about discovering a health issue they don’t want to deal with. But the sooner you learn about it, the sooner you can do something before it's too late.”

Dr Raghib Ali, Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer of Our Future Health, said: “We’re opening these new clinics each month to give people across the UK the opportunity to take part in our programme and make a difference to the future of healthcare. Researchers will apply to use our resource to make new discoveries about diseases that affect all of us. We want people from a range of backgrounds to be represented in Our Future Health, so that new discoveries can truly benefit everyone.”

Photos and videos of the mobile clinics can be downloaded here.

Our Future Health is rolling out on a region-by-region basis to invite adults across the UK to join the programme. Volunteers who don’t live near a location where Our Future Health appointments are currently available can join now at ourfuturehealth.org.uk and be notified when new appointment locations become available.

New locations will be announced on the Our Future Health website and social media channels. 

Our Future Health is an ambitious collaboration between the public sector, life sciences companies and leading UK health charities including: Action Against Age-related Macular Degeneration, Alzheimer’s Society, Asthma + Lung UK, Blood Cancer UK, Brain Tumour Research, Breast Cancer Now, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, DEBRA, Diabetes UK, Fight for Sight, Kidney Research UK, Macular Society, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Parkinson’s UK, Prostate Cancer Research, Prostate Cancer UK, Royal Osteoporosis Society, Stroke Association, and Versus Arthritis.