Social Prescribing Day, 19th March 2025
Sauna You Free
Inviting NHS and social prescribing link workers to come and enjoy the magic of sauna for free!
Sea Scrub Sauna, Margate, Kent
For all NHS and link workers
We are delighted to announce that we’re co-hosting a little initiative with Sauna Our Souls, to invite all NHS workers and link workers for a free sauna on Social Prescribing Day on March 19th, (or before April 19th).
This is a tiny token of gratitude from us as a community for the extraordinary care you have consistently provided throughout the pandemic and beyond. Please can we prescribe you a sauna?
We’ve witnessed such incredible positive shifts in well-being in our community, both in ourselves, and in the people we serve. Recent scientific studies now support all the magic we’ve been feeling in our minds, bodies, and souls for years.
We’d love to help ease the pressure on your surgeries, and all of you, by helping people get well, and stay well, with regular sauna and safe cold exposure.
This is a nationwide initiative supported by many of our sauna owner members. Please find your nearest local sauna from the list below to get in touch to book your free sauna.
Why prescribe sauna?
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Produces the same cardiovascular benefits as medium-intensity exercise (Ketelhut & Ketelhut, 2019) - ideal for the elderly, disabled or those with mobility issues
Counters chronic inflammation (Laukkanen & Laukkanen, 2017), the main driver of diseases of aging (Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer etc)
Frequent sauna users 40% less likely to die prematurely, regardless of age, activity levels and lifestyle factors that influence health (Laukkanen et al. 2018)
Frequent sauna bathers 66% less likely to develop dementia (Laukkanen et al. 2017)
Helpful for those with chronic pain (Masuda et al. 2005)
Slows muscle wastage which impacts the elderly or those with muscle wasting diseases (Hafen et al. 2019)
Improves recovery time from exercise
Enhances the release of growth hormone for bodybuilders (Hannuksela & Ellaham, 2001)
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Can produce an immediate antidepressant effect for people with severe depression (Janssen et al. 2016)
Frequent bathers 77% less likely to develop psychotic disorders (Laukkanen et al. 2018)
Gives a social experience without the need to manage relationships/hold conversations
May assist focus and concentration in those suffering from ADHD (Hannuksela & Ellaham, 2001)
Read our blogpost Let's talk sauna and mental wellbeing for further information.
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Protects against the negative health outcomes of low socioeconomic status (Kunutsor & Laukkanen, 2023)
Provides low-skilled flexible jobs for the community
Single-bather bookings randomises the demographics to facilitate socialisation across age, wealth and background
A sense of equality and enduring difficulty together is a bonding mechanism, creating a camaraderie between different social groups (Yates, 2022)
Heat functions as a social lubricant, promoting conversation between strangers/people of different backgrounds
Gives an accessible space for the isolated to meet new people
Lowering inflammation makes people less fearful of strangers and more sociable (Eisenberger et al. 2017)
Participating saunas
These saunas have pledged a free sauna session to their local NHS and social prescribing link workers in celebration of Social Prescribing Day on 19 March 2025. Find your local sauna below and book your free sauna session directly with them.
South of England
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Al-Nara Sauna
Penzance, Cornwall
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Beach Box Spa
Brighton, East Sussex
Free saunas for NHS staff and their clients on 20 March 2025.
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Bristol Community Sauna
Bristol, Avon
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Community Sauna Baths
Hackney Wick, London
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Devon Community Sauna CIC
Teignmouth & Goodrington, Devon
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Driftwood Mobile Sauna UK
Clevedon, North Somerset
Offering free saunas for NHS staff and their clients on 20 March 2025.
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Dunwich Sauna Box
Dunwich, Suffolk
Offering free saunas for NHS staff and their clients on 21 April 2025.
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Fire, Salt & Sea
Worthing, West Sussex
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Hot Roxx Coaching
Loddington Farm, near Maidstone, Kent
Free saunas for NHS staff and their clients on 29 March 2025.
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Jurassic Saunas
Branscombe, Devon
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Kernow Springs Nordic Spa
Wadebridge, Cornwall
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Kiln Sauna
Flushing, Cornwall
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Kindred Sauna
Horsham, West Sussex
Free saunas for NHS staff and their clients on 20 March 2025.
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Motts Sauna
Millendreath Looe & Motts Cottage Menheniot, South East Cornwall
Free saunas each Wednesday for four weeks for NHS staff and their clients starting 19 March 2025.
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Ojas Sauna
Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire
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Olla Hiki Sauna
Newquay, Cornwall
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Orchard Sauna
Bristol, Somerset
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The Salt Water Sauna
Sandbanks Beach (Poole) & Avon Beach (Christchurch), Dorset
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Samphire Sauna
Hastings & St. Leonards, East Sussex
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Saunadelic
Hove, East Sussex
Free saunas each Monday from 12:30pm until 2:30pm between 24 March and 14 April 2025 for NHS staff and their clients.
Please send in your name, phone number, NHS email address and date/time preferred when booking your sauna.
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Saunassa
Newquay, Cornwall
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Scenic Sauna
Northleach, Gloucestershire
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Seaside Sauna Haus
Seatown, West Dorset
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Sheringham Sauna Box
Sheringham, Norfolk
Offering free saunas for NHS staff and their clients on 18 April 2025.
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Slomo
Tapnell, Isle of Wight
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The Solent Sauna
Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire
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The Somewhere Sauna
Mothecombe, Devon
Free saunas for NHS staff and their clients between 1700 and 2000 on 19 March 2025.
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Sonder Experience
Thame, Oxfordshire
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South West Saunas
Totnes, Devon
Offering offering free communal slots during normal opening hours for NHS staff. Can also arrange free private sessions for groups of healthcare workers.
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Steamy Wonders at trenarren HOUSE
Trenarren, Cornwall
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Wild Spa Wowo
Uckfield, East Sussex
Hosting complimentary sauna sessions to NHS staff on Wednesday, 19th March at 12pm, 2pm, or 4pm. Please email to book.
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Widewater Sauna
Lancing/Shoreham by the Sea, West Sussex
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Wiltshire Wild Sauna
Near Swindon, Wiltshire
Midlands
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SaunaHood
Milford, nr Belper, Derbyshire
SaunaYouFree Sessions for NHS/link workers will run 6-7pm on 19th March & 6-7pm on Wednesdays thereafter until further notice. Please email to book.
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SUKU Saunas
Towcester, Northamptonshire
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The Wild Sauna
Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire
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WholeHealth Swim & Sauna
Nottingham
The sauna session for NHS staff & social prescribing link workers is Wednesday 19 March 2025 - 12 noon to 1pm.
North of England
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iglu sauna
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
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Kontrast
Greater Manchester
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Roots and Rocks
Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Scotland & N Ireland
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Cedar Hus Sauna
Bewliehill, Melrose
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HotBox
Limavady, Co. Londonderry
Offering free saunas to NHS staff and their clients on 21 March 2025.
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Soul Water Sauna Granton
Granton, Edinburgh
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Soul Water Sauna Portobello
Portobello, Edinburgh
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West Sands Sauna
Kingsbarns, Fife, Scotland
Isle of Man
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Kishtey Cheh
Port Erin, Isle of Man
Wales
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Sauna Hut Wales
Swansea/Gower, South Wales
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Sawna Criccieth Sauna
Criccieth Beach, Wales
Offering 6 x 80 minute sauna sessions on Monday 24 March 2025 and on Monday 31 March 2025 for NHS staff and their clients.
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Sawna Bedo Sauna
Llanfachraeth, Isle of Anglesey
Offering free sauna sessions to NHS staff and their clients on 31 March 2025.
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Ty Sawna
Gower Peninsula, Swansea, Wales
Frequently asked questions
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All the participating saunas are listed on this webpage. Find your local one and click on the link to access their website and contact details.
Each sauna operator has their own system, so get in touch with them directly to book your session.
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1. Invite your local NHS and link workers
You can download this leaflet about the initiative
Fill it in with your sauna’s details and any personal greeting
Deliver it to your local NHS and link workers
2. Add your sauna to this page
Email saunayoufree@britishsaunasociety.org.uk with following information:
Name of the sauna
Post town & county
Website address
Attach one square format image that represents your sauna
3. Host a free session
Either on Social Prescribing Day, Wednesday 19 March or before 19 April 2024.
Any questions, contact the Sauna Our Souls and Sauna You Free steward Jez Tozer at 07779 111151 (WhatsApp).
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Social prescribing – sometimes referred to as community referral – is a means of enabling GPs, nurses and other health and care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services.
Recognising that people’s health is determined primarily by a range of social, economic and environmental factors, social prescribing seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way. It also aims to support individuals to take greater control of their own health.
Social prescribing schemes can involve a variety of activities which are typically provided by voluntary and community sector organisations. Examples include volunteering, arts activities, group learning, gardening, befriending, cookery, healthy eating advice and a range of sports.
There are many different models for social prescribing, but most involve a link worker or navigator who works with people to access local sources of support.
Community-centred ways of working can be more effective than more traditional services in improving the health and wellbeing of marginalised groups and vulnerable individuals. For this reason, they are an essential way of reducing health inequalities within a local area or community.
Source: GOV.UK – Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)
Organising partners
The British Sauna Society was established in 2014 by a group of Brits and European ex-pats. They had experienced the awe of authentic sauna and wanted to connect with fellow enthusiasts and encourage more of it in the UK.
A decade later, it’s been a driving factor in a UK sauna ‘revolution’, with exponential growth of authentic sauna experiences across the UK.
Sauna Our Souls is a gathering of sauna owners, medical & mental health professionals, social workers, and therapists to expand the conversation, and initiate action, to make sauna and safe cold exposure accessible to more people in the UK and beyond.
In particular, they are committed to expanding access to sauna & cold through social prescribing, charitable funding, and donation programs.