GoodGym Hackney Runs

How do you make yourself feel good? By going for a run after work, perhaps? Or by giving back to your community? Members of the GoodGym, who combine the two simultaneously, are entitled to feel positively saintly. The organisation’s free group run takes place on Tuesday evenings. Each week, accompanied by a trainer, runners are dispatched on a different philanthropic mission. Past tasks have included clearing land for community allotments and helping a local resident get his neglected garden back on track. Ingenious – but there’s more. GoodGym also pairs runners with isolated elderly people, who in turn become motivators in exchange for the delivery of a newspaper or a bit of a chat. You’ll require a CRB check to get involved in this aspect of the programme, but to join a run all you need is a willingness to get stuck in.