The organisers of a scheme that uses the energy of get-fit enthusiasts to help their communities hope to take it city-wide after winning the Evening Standard’s Ideas for London competition.
GoodGym is already operating as a not-for-profit body in east London, organising weekly runs which incorporate a group physical activity for the public good.
This week it helped prepare land for the arrival of new animals at the Spitalfields city farm.
A second branch of the scheme matches runners to an elderly or housebound person who would like a weekly visit.
It uses a database that takes into account how far the visitor wants to run to fulfil their house call.
Founder Ivo Gormley, 30, of Bethnal Green, colleague Mark Herbert, 29, of Dulwich, and new management recruit Ian Drysdale, 30, of Hackney, now want to expand it across London and then the country using advice gleaned through the Ideas for London competition, which every month celebrates a brilliant idea for the capital.
Last night the team went to the Room for London, the ship-shaped hotel on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, for a dinner with experts.
Mr Drysdale said the competition was “quirky” but the chance to take specialist advice for their project was invaluable.
“We see the traditional gym as a waste of energy. People are sweating away but that energy doesn’t go anywhere,” he said.
"This is a creative way of releasing potential in new ways. We have a vision of having GoodGym in every city in England.”
Runs take place in Hackney, Canary Wharf, Leyton and West Ham and more than 800 people have taken part this year.
More than 100 volunteers have undergone Criminal Records Bureau checks to be allowed to visit the elderly.
Experts at the dinner included people from the volunteering organisation Rock Corps and communications agency BBH.
goodgym.org
