GoodGym is launching in Kingston-upon-Thames this May

GoodGym Kingston is about to launch in partnership with Kingston Council. It will be the 44th GoodGym area to launch in the UK. Our first ever group run session will be on Tuesday 15th May.

GoodGym Kingston will be led by local trainer Mark Barun. Each week he’ll be leading a group of runners on a short run before stopping off to support a community organisation with a physical task like planting trees, shifting earth, or clearing derelict land.

Mark Barun, GoodGym Kingston trainer said:

There's keeping fit and there's doing something with it - GoodGym gives you the chance to do both. There's already so many great community organisations in Kingston and now we have the chance to help them run even better.”

For our first run, we’re running to help out local charity Community Brain, who've taken over the abandoned Tolworth Allotments to run a community growing project. We'll be getting stuck in with some digging, raking and clearing to help prepare the allotments.

In addition to the weekly group run organised by Mark, GoodGym runners can also choose to be paired with an isolated older person and commit to a weekly social visit and/or help with one-off household tasks. The GoodGym befriending scheme has been proven to reduce loneliness and improve wellbeing.

GoodGym Kingston has been made possible thanks to our partnership with Kingston Council.

Sue Gregory-Johnson, Sports and Leisure Commissioner at Kingston Council, said:

We are very pleased to be involved with this initiative that can help bring people together, as well as having a benefit to their health. It is a great way for GoodGym runners to use their energy to benefit worthy projects in their community.”

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Find out more about GoodGym Kingston

• GoodGym Kingston launches on Tuesday 15th May. Sign-up here to run with us at the launch event. Everyone is welcome.
• The launch event will begin at 6.45pm. The start location is: Guildhall Kingston-upon-Thames, London KT1 1EU
• GoodGym Kingston will meet every Tuesday at 6:45pm at Guildhall
• Find out more here about how you can run to visit an isolated older person in Kingston