The gym where the whole community shares the gains - GoodGym set for Coventry
Published: Thursday 31 Jan 2019
Fitness phenomenon GoodGym, which combines getting fit with doing good deeds in the community, has announced it will launch in Coventry on March 19.
GoodGym originally announced plans for a programme in Coventry in January - and has now confirmed potential runners can sign up to take part in the first run in March.
The first task will consist of running to help the Coventry resource centre for the Blind. The centre provides practical and social support for people with a visual impairment in the Coventry area, and their families and carers. This week we will be painting part of the centre, gardening and clearing behind the community room.
Mayor Andy Street (third from left, bottom row), gets stuck into a community gardening project with runners from GoodGym Solihull.
You can sign up to the event here - https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-coventry-launch-run
GoodGym doesn't have treadmills, cross-trainers or weights. It doesn't even have a physical building. Instead, members run around the community to stay fit: but stop off to help people on the way.
Runners can help by doing physical tasks, such as clearing gardens, or by carrying out social visits for elderly people who may be lonely or isolated.
Councillor Kamran Caan, portfolio holder for Public Health and Sport at Coventry City Council said:
I am very excited for the launch of GoodGym. It's something really unique which I hope will inspire Coventry residents to be more physically active, whilst at the same time carry out good deeds for someone else. This is our Community and together we can all make a difference. Nobody should be left behind in this journey of life.
GoodGym is a great way to simply do something good for our local community, so I encourage as many people as possible to sign up to this fantastic initiative once it launches".
The launch of GoodGym Coventry has been made possible through the generous support of Coventry City Council and West Midlands Combined Authority. Coventry will be GoodGym's 49th area nationwide, and the launch event will start at Drapers Bar and Kitchen, Earl St, CV1 5RU.
Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street said: I have had first-hand experience of the great work done by GoodGym, and it's a clever and meaningful idea to combine fitness activity with doing good deeds for the community.
We've already worked to help set up GoodGym in Birmingham and are looking to launch GoodGym Solihull this year too. We're also looking at other possible locations in the West Midlands as well'.
A lot of people avoid exercising in the gym as they feel observed, or dislike the idea of going nowhere, running on a treadmill. GoodGym provides a really meaningful workout - not only do members benefit from the physical exercise of running, they add something back to the community and make a real difference to people's lives at the same time
In addition to the weekly group run, GoodGym runners will also be paired with an isolated older person and commit to a weekly social visit and/or help with one-off household tasks. The GoodGym befriending scheme has been proven to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing.
To start the process of visiting an isolated elderly person in Coventry sign up here to get DBS checked on March 19th - https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/get-your-docs-checked-4648bc9d-af5a-4e61-870b-314587c3f81e
GoodGym Coventry's trainer Liz Pharoah said:
I am so excited that GoodGym has finally come to Coventry! I am looking forward to creating a new running community enabling people to come together, get fit, make friends and improve lives for others in their own locality
For more information, visit https://www.goodgym.org/ or follow the Coventry GoodGym Twitter: https://twitter.com/coventrygg