GoodGym’s New Initiative Combines Exercise With Volunteering

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Get your workouts in while also helping the planet this April

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Need a bit of extra motivation to exercise? In the run up to Earth Day on 22 April, environmental charity World Wild Fund For Nature (WWF) has teamed up with community-driven fitness organisation GoodGym on a series of free workouts for a good cause.

WWF x GoodGym: Work Out For A Good Cause This April

Taking place across 50 UK towns and cities, the new “Workout for Nature” four-week campaign features a number of 90-minute sessions which combine fitness with volunteering. From tree planting to park clean-ups to habitat restoration to creating flower beds, each activity will give you a good workout while also doing something positive for the planet. Other initiatives have a social element, whether that’s supporting a local school or helping a charity, like the Vauxhall Food Bank. For each one, participants are encouraged to join an easy-paced run or walk to and from the task, maximising the fitness benefits.

This comes as part of WWF’s Prescription for Nature campaign, which highlights the wellbeing benefits of spending time outdoors. ‘Our research at WWF has shown us that when we restore nature, nature restores us,’ says Emma Collacott, Head of Public Engagement Communications at WWF UK.

‘”Workout for Nature” is not about metrics – it’s not about chasing personal bests or step counts. It’s about moving your body, supporting your community, bettering your mind, and improving the world we move through. By engaging in hands-on environmental projects, participants not only improve their own wellbeing but make a tangible difference to the natural world around them.’

WWF’s campaign has dual importance. Recent studies show the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, with 1,500 species now at risk from being lost from England, Wales and Scotland. Meanwhile, one in six British people suffer from a common mental health problem in any given week in England.

However, WWF’s research shows nine in ten people say spending time in nature has a positive impact on their mental wellbeing. Exercise has long been lauded for its effect on mental health, and it seems these benefits may be even greater when it’s for a good cause. A two-year study from London School of Economic and Political Science (LSE) in partnership with GoodGym found a 21 percent increase in life satisfaction when exercise is combined with volunteering, plus a 21 percent decrease in mental distress, and a 17 percent increase in the feeling of life being worthwhile.