Croft Road car park, Wednesday 16 September and Tuesday 6 October. Free 30 to 40 minute checks for anyone aged 40 to 74, but you have to book ahead.

Free NHS health checks are coming back to Crowborough this autumn, on two dates in the Croft Road car park: Wednesday 16 September and Tuesday 6 October. The checks are delivered from a community outreach campervan by One You East Sussex, supported by Wealden District Council. (Wealden District Council, 19 August 2026)

They have to be booked. The council says spaces are limited and are “unlikely to be available on the day”, and One You says previous Wealden sessions “consistently booked up very quickly”. Turning up on the morning is not the plan.

The nine dates

The roadshow runs across the district from early September to mid-October:

  • Tuesday 8 September, Station Road East car park, Heathfield
  • Wednesday 9 September, Vicarage Lane car park, Hailsham
  • Tuesday 15 September, Luxford car park, Civic Approach, Uckfield
  • Wednesday 16 September, Croft Road car park, Crowborough
  • Tuesday 29 September, Vicarage Lane car park, Hailsham
  • Wednesday 30 September, Station Road East car park, Heathfield
  • Tuesday 6 October, Croft Road car park, Crowborough
  • Wednesday 7 October, Luxford car park, Civic Approach, Uckfield
  • Wednesday 14 October, Sea Road car park, Pevensey Bay

Pevensey Bay is new to the roadshow this autumn. Crowborough, Heathfield, Hailsham and Uckfield each get two dates.

Who can have one

The council’s release sets out five conditions. You need to be:

  • aged 40 to 74
  • an East Sussex resident
  • not currently prescribed blood pressure or cholesterol medication
  • free of diabetes, and of heart, circulatory or kidney conditions, and to have had no previous cardiovascular event
  • more than five years clear of your last NHS health check

One You East Sussex publishes its own version of the same list on its NHS Health Check page, and it is slightly stricter: it also rules out anyone already diagnosed with high cholesterol or high blood pressure, not only those taking medication for them. (One You East Sussex, NHS Health Check) If you are close to the line, say so when you book rather than after you arrive.

What actually happens in the appointment

The council says appointments take 30 to 40 minutes and that results are discussed during the session, so you are not waiting on a letter. One You describes the check itself as two halves:

  • The measurements: a blood test including a cholesterol check, height and weight, and a blood pressure reading.
  • The conversation: family history and current lifestyle, practical advice, and a route into its free weight-loss, stop-smoking or health-coaching programmes if you want one.

The point of the check is to catch the risk factors behind heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, type 2 diabetes and dementia early. One You says more than 16,000 East Sussex residents have a check each year.

How to book

Email nhshealthcheck@oneyoueastsussex.org.uk or call 01323 404600. Book in advance, and say which date and town you want.

Councillor Kelvin Williams, the council’s lead councillor for public health and asset management, said: “Even when you feel fine, taking the time to have a check-up can help protect your own health.”

What it means for you

If you are between 40 and 74 and have not had a check in the last five years, this is the shortest route to one you are likely to get locally, and it costs nothing.

That matters more in Crowborough than the leaflet suggests. Croft Road is also the address of Saxonbury House Surgery, and in this year’s national GP Patient Survey only 25% of its patients said it was easy to get through to the practice by phone, the lowest of the 11 surgeries nearest the town in our analysis of the 2026 results. A booked 40-minute appointment in a car park is not a substitute for a GP, but it is a way of getting your blood pressure and cholesterol looked at without joining the 8am queue.

Two practical points. Both Croft Road sessions fall on working days, a Wednesday and a Tuesday, so get the slot confirmed before you plan the day around it. And if you were thinking of coming by train, note that Crowborough’s station is at Jarvis Brook, roughly a mile and a half from the High Street, with the climb on the way back.