GoodGym
Ian Drysdale and Ivo Gormley won a night on board A Room for London with his idea for a new, meaningful way to exercise. Ian was resident in the Room on Thursday 25 October 2012.
What's your idea?
GoodGym is about meaningful ways to exercise. We’re a group of runners who get fit by doing physical tasks which benefit the community. We can do anything from shifting rubble and planting gardens to making deliveries and friendly visits to lonely older people.
When were the first seeds of the idea sown?
GoodGym arose out of a frustration with normal gyms being a waste of energy and human potential. On the one hand, across the capital, thousands of people are sweating away in gyms, running on treadmills that do nothing useful at all with their energy! On the other, we know that there are many neglected tasks and people in our communities that need this energy. GoodGym was developed as a way to use the wasted resource and to give a purpose to exercise.
Who have you invited to dinner in A Room for London to help develop the idea?
We’ve invited a group of interesting people to the dinner who we think can help get GoodGym established across London. Specifically, we’re keen to explore how it fits within the future of social care, public health and fitness in the capital.
What single thing would you like to happen that evening to help your idea get off the ground?
GoodGym is now open to everyone in East London and we have a diverse group of runners and older people. We are now looking for the right partners to take the project across the whole of the city. We want to rival the success of gyms, getting people all over London off the treadmills and into their communities. On the evening, we hope to meet an interesting group of people that share our vision and will be able to offer their advice, contacts and support to make this a reality.
How would you describe your relationship to London?
We absolutely love it, there’s always something exciting happening and people to catch up with. However, we also recognise this isn’t the case for everyone and have witnessed how cities can be pretty lonely places for isolated older people and can promote a pretty unfit lifestyle. If we get GoodGym right we can do something massive; actually creating a new part of the infrastructure of cities and helping to tackle obesity and isolation.
How are you feeling about spending the night on board?
Intrigued and excited to have the chance to spend the evening in such a unique space in London.