London Marathon Supports Goodgym

The London Marathon has announced the organisation will fund the expansion of running community GoodGym to three new locations in London.

A £50,000 grant from London Marathon Events Ltd, will enable GoodGym to expand across London and support up to 5,000 runners. The runners provide support to isolated older people or do manual labour for a range of community projects.

The funding enables GoodGym to launch new locations in Southwark, Lambeth and Greenwich. Sessions are free and open to all and there will also be group runs for new runners throughout the month of January.

Ivo Gormley, founder of GoodGym said: “This is going to be huge. The London Marathon is an extraordinary, mammoth event and it’s brilliant that we have the support of the organisers to take GoodGym to the next level.    

“GoodGym is a really easy way to integrate doing something for your community into your exercise. If you’re already running then it might only take 15 minutes to change your route slightly and drop in to visit an isolated older person. 

“Everyone wants to do a bit more exercise and everyone wants to get involved in the communities they live in. GoodGym means you can do both at the same time. If you’ve never really considered running before, or lack motivation, then the community that GoodGym provides and the different reason to run can be a really easy route in.”

Hugh Brasher, event director for London Marathon Events, said: “We are very proud that our events have enabled participants to raise incredible amounts of money for a huge range of charities over the years but GoodGym is something different and probably the most innovative running club in the world. It’s a different reason to lace up your shoes and one that benefits others as much as yourself.”