London's GoodGym Combines Running with Community Service

On a cold, rainy Monday night in south London, runners gather without a single treadmill or weight rack in sight. Instead, they're heading to a rooftop garden above a concrete car park, where they'll shovel compost, clear weeds, and get muddy together after jogging a mile to arrive.

This is GoodGym, a charity that's redefining what a workout can be. The organization invites people to get fit by doing good, blending running, walking, or cycling with hands-on community service like sorting cans at food banks, planting fruit trees, or helping older adults with home projects.

"This is my mandatory once-a-week run with the GoodGym group," said Jason Kurtis, 42, a regular volunteer. "It's really fun, and it forces me to get out, especially on a Monday night when it's cold and in the middle of winter."

The idea started simply in 2007 when founder Ivo Gormley began running to deliver a newspaper to an older neighbor. He felt out of shape and missed the community spirit of his old basketball team, but hated the thought of lifting weights in a sweaty basement.

"I thought I could do something more useful in my exercise," Gormley said. He started organizing runs to places that needed help, beginning with tearing down outdated posters in his east London neighborhood.

That small idea has grown into a movement with over 26,000 members in 67 locations across England and Wales. GoodGym is now expanding into Scotland and Northern Ireland, making community fitness accessible to thousands more.

The pandemic revealed just how vital the organization had become. When group runs halted, volunteers pivoted to delivering food and prescriptions to isolated older adults who had no other support.

In Battersea, local leader Anastasia Hancock rarely cancels sessions, even during London's darkest winter nights. For many women, the group runs offer a safer way to stay active after dark plus a boost of midweek motivation.

"It's amazing to get together a group of people who just want to help somebody they don't know," said Sophie Humphrey, 33. Sometimes the evening ends with a post-run pint at the local pub.

Why This Inspires

Science backs up what members feel. Dr. Christian Krekel from the London School of Economics studied over 3,600 GoodGym participants and found improvements across all six wellbeing measures, including less loneliness, higher life satisfaction, and a stronger sense of belonging.

"Because of this unique combination of volunteering and physical activity, we do find stronger wellbeing impacts than what the literature suggests for either alone," Krekel said. The research confirms what seems obvious once you try it: helping others while moving your body creates something more powerful than either activity on its own.

Gormley believes the concept taps into something humans have always known. "You grow some food and literally through the action of planting and digging, that's where your exercise comes from."

In a world where screen time dominates and community connection feels scarce, GoodGym proves that fitness can feel good and do good at the same time.