Tom Kerry attended the GoodGym and LSE research findings event on behalf of Running Industry Alliance, which took place at LSE (London School of Economics) on Thursday 23^rd May.

The recent evaluation of GoodGym was conducted by London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on the combined effects of physical exercise and volunteering, and the research revealed that:

• GoodGym has an “extraordinary” impact on wellbeing
• Participation increases life satisfaction by over 20% and has a strong impact on all the wellbeing factors measured.

Event recap:

After a welcome from GoodGym Chair Jane Aschcroft, Prof Lord Richard Layard outlined factors that research has revealed to be key to high wellbeing.

”This is a wonderful example of three of the key influences on wellbeing, doing good, exercise and socialising”.

He explained that GoodGm’s high impact on wellbeing was due to the combination of these factors saying that “Doing good, exercise and socialising. It’s amazing that in GoodGym you have all these three important factors together.”

Dr. Chris Krekel presented the research concluding that GoodGym is ‘highly effective’ as a wellbeing intervention and that it had large and fairly persistent effects on the factors measured.

GoodGym:

• Increases life satisfaction by 21%
• Increases worthwhileness by 17%
• Decreases mental distress by 21%
• Decreases loneliness by 12%
• Increases belonging by 27%
• Increases connectedness by 16%

GoodGymers Latoya Stevens and Harvey Gallagher talked about how GoodGym impacts their wellbeing. Latoya talked about how GoodGym impacted her life through the pandemic and during other life changes ““I enjoy it, it makes me feel good. As much as it helps someone else I do it for me.”

Harvey spoke about the unexpected benefits from getting involved. He said: “On the face of it I’m putting myself out to chat to a complete stranger but I really enjoyed it. It made me feel good about myself. It made me feel appreciated.”

Wellbeing researcher Ingrid Abreu Scherer connected the research to policy, saying “In order to make good policy to make people thrive,  we need good evidence, evidence like this, that can help you take decisions about where to go next.”

Ingrid suggested further research that could help increase the impact of initiatives such as GoodGym including a focus on getting people to attend for the first time.

In terms of GoodGym’s overall impact on wellbeing, she said “Does GoodGym work? Yes.”

Jane Ashcroft took a range of questions from the audience, and GoodGym’s CEO Ivo Gormley read a statement from Rachel Hopkins MP praising the work of GoodGymers in Luton and saying:

“Research from LSE shows GoodGym to be a powerful intervention on wellbeing, significantly increasing life satisfaction, belonging, and connectedness, while reducing loneliness and mental distress. In a time when many local and statutory services have faced cuts over the past 14 years, with serious negative effects on people’s mental and physical health, the rise of voluntary groups like GoodGym has become increasingly vital to Luton and the UK. Thank you for your dedication and hard work.“

The full results and analysis will be written up in a paper for release in September. Read more at goodgym.org/evaluation

Lead photo: Tom Kerry, Running Industry Alliance & Layla Smith, Aspire PR

Check out the GoodGym RIA Member profile here  .