London Grilling: Ivo Gormley, Founder of GoodGym.
This week we had the opportunity of grilling a man who has, in our opinion, changed the landscape of voluntary work and personal health with his innovative concept of ‘getting fit whilst doing good’
Read on to learn all about GoodGym Founder, Ivo Gormley, and how you can get involved in the GoodGym January Challenge!
Could you tell our readers a little about yourself and what inspired you to create GoodGym?
In the mid-2000’s I was one of the many Londoners who felt like they should be doing a bit more exercise. I was lacking a real reason to do anything physical. I worked on a computer, liked pubs and life quite easily became not that healthy. I was looking for a reason to exercise that wasn’t something monotonous. I had met a man called Terry, a 62 year old ex-boxer amongst other things, through a friend who lived a kilometre or so away in Hackney and I knew he was housebound and didn’t have many visitors. I started delivering him the paper and running over to bring it to him. This gave me a reason to get out there and he kept me motivated.
How many GoodGym groups are currently in operation across London?
Since then we’re now in most London boroughs from Bromley to Barnet and from Hounslow to Redbridge, people all over London are now part of GoodGym. I still get really excited when I see a GoodGym runner on the street, wearing their red t-shirt. We now have 23 GoodGym areas across London and you can find sessions near you by putting in your postcode here. If you sign up to GoodGym we will alert you to the sessions near you.
What sets GoodGym apart from other fitness and exercise communities?
GoodGym is definitely different - it’s the only workout where you might find yourself knee deep in woodchip, or rolling huge logs over a foot bridge, or planting daffodil bulbs on a roundabout. It’s really social but what’s different is that at every session you’re going to be doing something that matters alongside your fitness. On my session last night I was helping with the final phase of an exhibition of primary school children’s work responding to the sea pollution in Newham at a place called Cody Dock. I never would have knew it existed without GoodGym.
Who can join GoodGym?
GoodGym is open to anybody over the age of 18. Our oldest member is currently an impressive 75! We also welcome all fitness levels, travel to our sessions can be done by walking, cycling or running. Some of us are walking-only, some are very speedy marathon runners. All our group sessions have a backmarker so you can take it at your own pace.
Can you tell our readers what to expect on a typical GoodGym session?
It’s a cliche, but no two GoodGym sessions are the same. Depending on your preference, we give the flexibility to travel to the session in a group or on your own. Once you reach the task it could be sorting food at a foodbank, planting at a community garden or moving furniture for an isolated older person so they can come home safely from hospital. Whatever the task, you’ll be doing something that makes a difference to where you live and meeting some interesting people, and getting some great motivation to get out there.
We’ve heard a lot about the big January Challenge! Can you tell us a little more about it and how Londoners can get involved?
Yeah, this is a big deal for us! We’ve challenged ourselves to do over 4,000 good deeds and cover 105,000km with our running cycling and walking. To do so we’ve going to need plenty of new people to get involved. January is a time when a lot of people get involved in GoodGym for the first time so it’s a great time to try something new. We love your help to make this happen, whether you’re thinking you want a bit of a mood boost or just a reason to get outdoors a bit more we’d love to have you along to a session.
We’d love to hear a success story from any London missions in 2021 / any big impacts you’d like to share with the readers?
2021 was a crazy year for us. Despite constantly changing rules and so much uncertainty GoodGymers responded with extraordinary positivity. From helping the vaccination effort, to food distribution to helping keep each other motivated and connected it really did show the absolute best of the human spirit. For some people it was about getting into a groove of making pharmacy deliveries those who are isolating and for some it was about keeping connected on online fitness sessions and for others it was about small groups helping with food banks. You can see almost every single thing we’ve done on our reports page.
What are your goals for GoodGym in 2022?
The pandemic has massively hit our ability to connect, as communities, as friends, as humans. We’re a small thing in people’s lives that help them connect and so it seems even more important that we’re able to help us recover from this period of isolation. Something else that’s big on many of our minds is how we can play a role in environmental sustainability - our sessions often have a positive impact on the environment - helping maintain or improve green spaces and we think there’s much more to do so we’re interested in exploring how we become a movement for green and sustainable exercise. I think it’s something a lot of us really care about.
Finally, how can people get in touch if they’d like to complete a mission OR if they know someone who they think could benefit from your support?
If you are interested in finding out more about GoodGym, or signing up to a session, please visit our website. If you know a group who could benefit from the help of our members, please fill in this form.
Thank you for chatting to us Ivo and HAPPY NEW YEAR!