Combining exercise with volunteering works out for members of a UK alternative to gyms

LONDON (AP) — Shoveling piles of compost and clearing weeds on a cold, damp evening in London might not be most people’s idea of fun.

But it’s smiles and chatter all around as a group of people in running gear put on headlamps and get to work in a community garden located on a derelict parking lot rooftop. The volunteers warmed up by jogging a mile to get to the site, and the digging, squatting and lifting they are doing is part of a weekly workout session.

Combining exercise with community service is the mission of GoodGym, an organization that encourages U.K. residents to “get fit by doing good.” There’s no expensive gym membership, treadmills or weights. All participants need is a desire to walk, run or bike and a willingness to sort cans at a food bank, pick up trash, visit an older adult or do other kinds of local volunteer work.

“I go to the normal gym usually and I do other sorts of exercise, but this is my mandatory once-a-week run with the GoodGym group,” said Jason Kurtis, 42, who was among the regulars toiling in the south London garden. “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.”

GoodGym says it has more than 26,600 members in 67 locations across England and Wales, and that it wants to start new groups in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Most weeks there are meetups happening somewhere. Recent workouts in London included clearing sidewalks of discarded Christmas trees, picking plastic litter from the muddy banks of the River Thames, planting fruit trees and setting up cots for homeless people.

Members say that signing up for activities — and feeling they’re a part of something positive — motivates them to exercise regularly.

Making exercise more meaningful

GoodGym began in 2007 when its founder, Ivo Gormley, started running to deliver a newspaper to an older person in his neighborhood. At the time, Gormley said he wasn’t doing any exercise and missed being part of a basketball team.

“I just didn’t like that idea of going to a gym, going into a sweaty basement and lifting things that don’t really need lifting. I thought I could do something more useful in my exercise,” he said.

He started organizing group runs to places where participants could help with community projects big and small: the first group ripped down outdated posters in his east London neighborhood, Gormley said.

The idea gained traction in other English cities and GoodGym, which registered as a charity in 2015, expanded rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic ruled out group runs, but the organization received a surge in requests to help older adults who were isolated at home. Volunteers started focusing on tasks like delivering prescriptions and food.

GoodGym still pairs volunteers with retirees who want someone to talk to or need help with practical tasks like moving heavy furniture or lawn mowing. Many home visits call for one volunteer at a time and therefore have no group exercise component, though participants are encouraged to run, walk or cycle to their assignments.

Gormley said he wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to stay in shape and give back. Monthly donations are welcome but voluntary, and members are not pressured to show up, he said.

“You can just sign up today and have a go tonight. We try to reduce the barriers as much as possible,” Gormley said. “You don’t have to come back if you don’t like it. It’s a really easy way to get involved.”

‘A boost of positivity’

In southwest London's Battersea district, local GoodGym leader Anastasia Hancock instructs members to lunge, jump and stretch as they prepare for their mile-long run to the Doddington and Rollo community roof garden, a rare slice of greenery in the middle of towering apartment buildings that were built as affordable housing in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Hancock organizes a variety of volunteer projects for GoodGym members in her area, but helping to maintain the garden is one her group returns to every month. She recalls how they once helped shift hundreds of bags of heavy compost up narrow steps to reach the rooftop.

“That was an amazing workout,” she said.

Hancock said she hardly ever cancels a scheduled run and activity, and members keep coming even during London's bleak, drizzly winters. For women, the regular sessions have the added benefit of offering a safe way to run outside after dark, she said.

“I really love coming. I think it’s just a boost of positivity in the week,” said Sophie Humphrey, 33. “It’s amazing to get together a group of people who just want to help somebody they don’t know."

A ‘really obvious’ idea

Gormley said he doesn’t know of many similar organizations that combine fitness with volunteering, though he acknowledges that to some extent, the idea behind GoodGym is “really obvious.”

“It’s what people have always done, right? You grow some food and literally through the action of planting and digging, that’s where your exercise comes from,” he said.

The opportunity to socialize is a key element that hooks participants, Gormley said. He said a recent member survey indicated that many young people were keen to get away from phone screens and to have more in-person interactions. Members of Hancock's group Monday night group sometimes go to a pub together when their volunteer work is done.

Christian Krekel, an assistant professor at the London School of Economics who does research in behavioral economics and wellbeing, spent two years leading an evaluation of GoodGym to determine if blending volunteering with exercise offered additional mental health benefits. The findings, based on survey results from 3,600 people who had either expressed interest in joining or already were active members, were promising, he said.

A team of economists recorded improvements in all six aspects of mental wellbeing they measured, with participants reporting feeling less lonely and more satisfied with their lives, as well as a greater sense of “belongingness and connectedness,” Krekel said. More research is needed, but the team hopes the findings, if they are validated, could help shape public policies on mental health.

“Because of this unique combination of volunteering or pro-social activity and physical activity, we do find stronger well-being impacts than what the literature suggests for volunteering and for physical activity alone,” Krekel said. “So I think that’s what makes this so unique, and it’s actually quite powerful.”