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

Exercise with Purpose: UK’s GoodGym Combines Fitness and Community Service

Shoveling piles of compost and clearing weeds on a cold, damp evening in London might not be most people’s idea of fun. Yet for members of GoodGym, it’s just another Monday night workout.

On this particular evening in south London, a group of people in running gear don headlamps and enthusiastically tackle gardening tasks on a derelict parking lot rooftop that’s been transformed into a community garden. They warmed up by jogging a mile to reach the site, and now the digging, squatting and lifting serve as their exercise routine.

“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,” explains Jason Kurtis, 42, a regular participant. “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’s mission is elegantly simple: “get fit by doing good.” The organization has grown to include more than 26,600 members across 67 locations throughout England and Wales, with plans to expand into Northern Ireland and Scotland. There are no expensive gym memberships, treadmills or weights—just people willing to walk, run or bike while performing community service.

Recent activities have included clearing Christmas trees from sidewalks, removing plastic litter from the River Thames, planting fruit trees, and setting up cots for homeless people. The organization also pairs volunteers with older adults who need companionship or help with household tasks.

The concept began in 2007 when founder Ivo Gormley started running to deliver a newspaper to an elderly neighbor. Dissatisfied with traditional exercise options, he sought a more meaningful physical outlet.

“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,” Gormley says. He began organizing group runs to tackle community projects, starting with removing outdated posters in his east London neighborhood.

The organization registered as a charity in 2008 and expanded rapidly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when group runs became impossible, GoodGym pivoted to focus on helping isolated older adults with prescription deliveries and food shopping.

In Battersea, southwest London, local GoodGym leader Anastasia Hancock guides members through lunges, jumps and stretches before they run to the Doddington and Rollo community roof garden. This green oasis amid 1960s and 70s housing blocks is a regular destination for her group.

“I recall when we helped shift hundreds of bags of heavy compost up narrow steps to reach the rooftop. That was an amazing workout,” Hancock says. She rarely cancels scheduled activities, and members remain committed even during London’s notoriously dreary winters. For women, the sessions offer the additional benefit of safe outdoor exercise after dark.

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

The social aspect proves crucial to GoodGym’s appeal. Gormley notes that recent member surveys indicate many young people join seeking face-to-face interactions away from screens. Hancock’s Monday night group often continues their evening at a local pub after their volunteer work concludes.

Christian Krekel, an assistant professor at the London School of Economics who specializes in behavioral economics and wellbeing, led a two-year evaluation of GoodGym to determine if combining volunteering with exercise offered enhanced mental health benefits. The findings, based on survey results from 3,600 participants, were promising.

Researchers recorded improvements across six aspects of mental wellbeing, with members reporting reduced loneliness, greater life satisfaction, and increased feelings of belonging and connectedness.

“Because of this unique combination of volunteering or pro-social activity and physical activity, we do find stronger wellbeing impacts than what the literature suggests for volunteering and for physical activity alone,” Krekel explains. “That’s what makes this so unique, and it’s actually quite powerful.”

As traditional gym memberships continue to rise in cost and many struggle to maintain exercise routines, GoodGym’s innovative model offers a compelling alternative—one that benefits both participants and their communities alike.