Run with a purpose and help older people and projects in Solihull
Published: Thursday 07 Mar 2019
Fitness phenomenon GoodGym, which combines getting fit with doing good deeds in the community, has announced it will launch in Solihull on March 20.
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: stopping off to help people on the way.
Runners can help by doing physical tasks, such as planting trees, sorting food at food banks or by carrying out social visits for older people who are lonely or isolated.
Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street (front, second from right) joins GoodGym runners to help at a community project
For the first ever Solihull task, runners will be heading 2.5km to Newlands Bishop Farm, a charitable organisation which provides activities and work-based learning to people with learning disabilities and mental health problems, where there will be lots of hands-on lifting, shifting and painting to help with.
Anyone can sign up to the launch here: https://www.goodgym.org/happenings/goodgym-solihull-launch-run
The launch in Solihull has been made possible with support from Solihull Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
WMCA Wellbeing board member and Solihull Council's cabinet member for adult social care and health, Cllr Karen Grinsell, said: This is a wonderful scheme which looks to partner up runners with vulnerable adults in our community. It's a win win situation because runners get some motivation and the people they are partnered up with become their coaches while getting some help in their homes and a chat
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 have already helped to set up GoodGym in Birmingham and look forward to this launch in Solihull. We are also looking at other locations in the West Midlands too.
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
GoodGym will organise a weekly group run, with members stopping off to help community organisations on the way.
Members can also be paired with an isolated older person, and are asked to commit to a weekly social visit to chat and have a cup of tea. The GoodGym befriending scheme has been proven to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing and 98% of older people would consider their runner a friend.
Additionally, GoodGym runners can run with purpose to an isolated older person in their community and complete missions such as checking a smoke alarm, gardening or helping move furniture so someone can come home from hospital.
For more about GoodGym Solihull, visit: https://www.goodgym.org/areas/solihull