CAN YOU COMBINE RUNNERS AND GOOD DEEDS TO CHANGE A COMMUNITY? WE ASKED GOODGYM FOUNDER, IVO GORMLEY

WORDS: TINA CHANTREY

GOODGYM

Who would have thought 20 years ago that, following on from the transformational work of parkrun, a movement such as GoodGym would be bringing runners and isolated people together to create such positive change in local communities.

The GoodGym community of runners, now established in nearly 50 different areas in the UK, was originally founded nearly 10 years ago by Ivo Gormley, to tackle the problem of isolation amongst older people. Runners, being the type of humans who tend to like both being in the outdoors and being active, have become a perfect link to people in need, combining fitness with doing good deeds.

What is GoodGym all about? “Instead of running for miles on a treadmill or lifting weights for personal gain, GoodGym members stop off on their runs to help support isolated older people and undertake physical tasks to help community organisations”, explains Gormley.

WHY?

“The whole concept started because I wasn’t doing any exercise and I decided I’d start running to deliver a newspaper to an older man called Terry, who was a friend of a friend of a friend”, he explains. “Terry used to be in the parachute regiment, and he’d say that running was OK but I’d also have to do press ups and sit ups when I got home.”