Getting and keeping fit can be a laborious task. Some people hate the monotony of the gym, others need an exercise buddy, many lack motivation or confidence, while a few don’t even know where to start and simply slump back on the sofa.
If any of the above applies to you, then the GoodGym may be just the thing to get your exercise regime back on track. There are GoodGym organisations across London and the UK and members combine running and workouts with helping out on community projects as well as visiting older, vulnerable members of society who need support or company.
The seed of the idea was sown back in 2007 in the London borough of Tower Hamlets where a group of people became frustrated with the idea that so much energy went into exercising in gyms, yet essentially that energy and human potential were ‘wasted’. Why not combine fitness with altruism and do yourself and others good at the same time?
By 2010, the seed became an initiative and the GoodGym was born. Over the past eight years it has expanded steadily, offering Mission Runs – a run involving three to four members to help an older person with a task they’re no longer able to do on their own (eg moving furniture, changing a lightbulb, a bit of gardening); Coach Runs – an individual run to visit an older person for company, and Group Runs – a larger body of people who run to work on a community project such as planting trees, clearing rubbish etc.
Aside from doing important work in many local areas, it is clear that GoodGym is also proving incredibly inspiring to its members. I spoke to Ella Horne, 26, from Wandsworth who has been a member since February 2017.
“I joined after going on a big holiday. I just wasn’t happy about the way I looked and the way I felt,” Ella explains. “Then I saw an advert for the GoodGym and I thought it might be a good way to make me run and do some good at the same time. I was really nervous the first time I went; it was a dark, rainy night in February but everyone was so friendly and all abilities were welcomed and my ability was seriously low!”
On that first night, Ella helped out on a community garden with a host of other members of all ages and backgrounds.
“I remember being amazed that there were 30 people there in the pouring rain on a dark night and there was just a hive of activity and we were really making an impact.”
Members pay £10 for weekly sessions if they can afford to and this includes support from a trainer to help you track your goals, a New Balance t-shirt, plus social events such as the recent GoodGym Olympics. However, if you’re not in a position to pay you don’t have to.
After 18 months and more than 50 runs, Ella is in top form.
“I feel so much better. I think I was about eight months in when people started saying how much fitter I was looking, but then I had stopped caring what people thought because I felt good inside. That was partly down to the fitness as I would never have been able to keep it up if it hadn’t been for the community, but the positive impact you’ve made at the end of a session, either by transforming a garden or a café – knowing you’ve been part of something positive for your community – makes you feel really amazing.”
