Members of a community fitness group say they are looking for charities to support as they commit to carrying out as many volunteering tasks as possible during January, as well as running, walking or cycling as many miles as they can.
The GoodGym York group has about 200 members with about 30 volunteers meeting every Monday to take part in a community task followed by a fitness session and then running, walking or cycling.
Ed Woollard, the group’s area activator, has been involved since 2018 and has gone from driving to events to running ultra marathons – and he even met his future wife at GoodGym.
Mr Woollard says he joined the group after he moved to York some years ago and had struggled to meet people.
“I saw a Facebook advert for GoodGym and I thought the volunteering side sounds really cool, I can get involved in that and I can meet people. So I went along,” he says.
“I worked away a lot and you look at ways of meeting people and it’s often join a running group, but I wasn’t fit so I wanted something with a bit of a difference.
“I drove to my first session, which is naughty, but I run and walk everywhere now.”
Mr Woollard says he “never thought of myself as a runner”, but since he started he goes along to parkrun every week.
He says he has “got so much” out of both the volunteering and the fitness side of the group’s activities, “and I feel super connected to the city I live in”.
