Hackney GPs are urging NHS supporters to turn out at Clissold Park this Saturday to welcome a bunch of outraged mums who will have walked a whopping 300 miles from Jarrow to Parliament to highlight what they dub the government’s “assault” on the NHS.

The Peoples’ March for the NHS was started by mothers from Darlington, inspired by the Jarrow hunger marchers of 1936.

Hackney GP Coral Jones will join the marchers to highlight the fact that in Hackney doctors are “desperately worried” about the 22 east London GP surgeries that may have to close because of NHS cuts.

She said: “All over England, people are waking up to the terrible threat hanging over our NHS.

“Services are being cut, hospitals and A&E departments are being shut, and more and more of our NHS is being privatised and handed over to profit-making companies.”

The group of 50 women, who started on their journey on August 16, will stop for a lunch break in Clissold Park this Saturday.

Well wishers are invited to meet at 11.45am at the park’s Stoke Newington Church Street entrance, and continue the march to Parliament Square where there will be a rally at 4pm.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “There is absolutely no government policy to privatise NHS services. We have been clear that the NHS will continue to be free at the point of use for generations to come, with patients getting the very best treatment - regardless of who provides it.”