Combining exercise with volunteering works out for members of a UK alternative to gyms

LONDON (AP) — Shoveling piles of compost and clearing weeds on a cold, damp evening in London might not be most people’s idea of fun.

But it’s smiles and chatter all around as a group of people in running gear put on headlamps and get to work in a community garden located on a derelict parking lot rooftop. The volunteers warmed up by jogging a mile to get to the site, and the digging, squatting and lifting they are doing is part of a weekly workout session.

Combining exercise with community service is the mission of GoodGym, an organization that encourages U.K. residents to “get fit by doing good.” There’s no expensive gym membership, treadmills or weights. All participants need is a desire to walk, run or bike and a willingness to sort cans at a food bank, pick up trash, visit an older adult or do other kinds of local volunteer work.

“I go to the normal gym usually and I do other sorts of exercise, but this is my mandatory once-a-week run with the GoodGym group,” said Jason Kurtis, 42, who was among the regulars toiling in the south London garden. “It’s really fun and it forces me to get out, especially on a Monday night when it’s cold and in the middle of winter.”

GoodGym says it has more than 26,600 members in 67 locations across England and Wales, and that it wants to start new groups in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Most weeks there are meetups happening somewhere. Recent workouts in London included clearing sidewalks of discarded Christmas trees, picking plastic litter from the muddy banks of the River Thames, planting fruit trees and setting up cots for homeless people.

Members say that signing up for activities — and feeling they’re a part of something positive — motivates them to exercise regularly.

GoodGym began in 2007 when its founder, Ivo Gormley, started running to deliver a newspaper to an older person in his neighborhood. At the time, Gormley said he wasn’t doing any exercise and missed being part of a basketball team.

“I just didn’t like that idea of going to a gym, going into a sweaty basement and lifting things that don’t really need lifting. I thought I could do something more useful in my exercise,” he said.

He started organizing group runs to places where participants could help with community projects big and small: the first group ripped down outdated posters in his east London neighborhood, Gormley said.

The idea gained traction in other English cities and GoodGym, which registered as a charity in 2015, expanded rapidly. The COVID-19 pandemic ruled out group runs, but the organization received a surge in requests to help older adults who were isolated at home. Volunteers started focusing on tasks like delivering prescriptions and food.

GoodGym still pairs volunteers with retirees who want someone to talk to or need help with practical tasks like moving heavy furniture or lawn mowing. Many home visits call for one volunteer at a time and therefore have no group exercise component, though participants are encouraged to run, walk or cycle to their assignments.

Gormley said he wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to stay in shape and give back. Monthly donations are welcome but voluntary, and members are not pressured to show up, he said.

“You can just sign up today and have a go tonight. We try to reduce the barriers as much as possible,” Gormley said. “You don’t have to come back if you don’t like it. It’s a really easy way to get involved.”

In southwest London's Battersea district, local GoodGym leader Anastasia Hancock instructs members to lunge, jump and stretch as they prepare for their mile-long run to the Doddington and Rollo community roof garden, a rare slice of greenery in the middle of towering apartment buildings that were built as affordable housing in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Hancock organizes a variety of volunteer projects for GoodGym members in her area, but helping to maintain the garden is one her group returns to every month. She recalls how they once helped shift hundreds of bags of heavy compost up narrow steps to reach the rooftop.

“That was an amazing workout,” she said.

Hancock said she hardly ever cancels a scheduled run and activity, and members keep coming even during London's bleak, drizzly winters. For women, the regular sessions have the added benefit of offering a safe way to run outside after dark, she said.

“I really love coming. I think it’s just a boost of positivity in the week,” said Sophie Humphrey, 33. “It’s amazing to get together a group of people who just want to help somebody they don’t know."

Gormley said he doesn’t know of many similar organizations that combine fitness with volunteering, though he acknowledges that to some extent, the idea behind GoodGym is “really obvious.”

“It’s what people have always done, right? You grow some food and literally through the action of planting and digging, that’s where your exercise comes from,” he said.

The opportunity to socialize is a key element that hooks participants, Gormley said. He said a recent member survey indicated that many young people were keen to get away from phone screens and to have more in-person interactions. Members of Hancock's group Monday night group sometimes go to a pub together when their volunteer work is done.

Christian Krekel, an assistant professor at the London School of Economics who does research in behavioral economics and wellbeing, spent two years leading an evaluation of GoodGym to determine if blending volunteering with exercise offered additional mental health benefits. The findings, based on survey results from 3,600 people who had either expressed interest in joining or already were active members, were promising, he said.

A team of economists recorded improvements in all six aspects of mental wellbeing they measured, with participants reporting feeling less lonely and more satisfied with their lives, as well as a greater sense of “belongingness and connectedness,” Krekel said. More research is needed, but the team hopes the findings, if they are validated, could help shape public policies on mental health.

“Because of this unique combination of volunteering or pro-social activity and physical activity, we do find stronger well-being impacts than what the literature suggests for volunteering and for physical activity alone,” Krekel said. “So I think that’s what makes this so unique, and it’s actually quite powerful.”

Participants in the Goodgym group pose for a group photograph after collecting litter to keep the River Thames free of plastic and other waste in London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Participants in the Goodgym group collect litter from the riverbank to keep the River Thames free of plastic and other waste in London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Participants in the Goodgym group warm up before running to collect litter to keep the River Thames free of plastic and other waste in London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Participants in the Goodgym group exercise after collecting litter to keep the River Thames free of plastic and other waste in London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Participants in the Goodgym group collect litter from the riverbank to keep the River Thames free of plastic and other waste in London, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean lawmakers on Thursday passed a law to implement a pledge of $350 billion in U.S. investments Seoul made last year to avoid the Trump administration’s highest tariffs.

Government officials had urged lawmakers to quickly pass the contested bill, submitted in November, as uncertainty mounts for the country’s trade-dependent economy, already rattled by President Donald Trump’s protectionist swing and now fearing the fallout from his war on Iran.

The bill’s passage came hours after the Trump administration increased pressure on trade partners by opening a new investigation into manufacturing in foreign countries, including China and U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, which could result in new import taxes if U.S. officials see their practices as unfair.

Trump and his team have made clear they’re seeking to use new tariffs to recoup lost revenue after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated his sweeping tariffs issued with emergency powers.

China expressed opposition to the move and called for negotiations to resolve any differences. “China opposes any form of unilateral tariff measures,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in Beijing. “Tariff wars and trade wars serve no one’s interests.”

The South Korean law, which passed 226 to 8, calls for establishing a public corporation to manage the promised U.S. investments, including reviewing and selecting projects based on input from South Korean and U.S. trade authorities.

Some lawmakers spoke against the bill ahead of the vote, expressing frustration over Trump’s new trade investigations and the potential impact of the war in the Middle East, which has exposed the vulnerability of South Korea’s export-dependent economy and reliance on imported fuel.

“We cannot be the money machine Trump wants us to be,” said Son Sol, a member of the minor opposition Progressive Party. She said the bill does not give the legislature sufficient power to review and reject investments that could go against South Korean business or public interests.

Following months of tense negotiations, South Korea finalized an agreement with the United States in November to invest $200 billion in U.S. semiconductor and other high-tech industries and another $150 billion in shipbuilding in exchange for Washington lowering reciprocal tariffs on Seoul from 25% to 15%.

The agreement, which followed a breakthrough at an October summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, also caps South Korean investments at $20 billion a year to protect the country’s foreign currency reserves.

Lee’s liberal Democratic Party introduced the legislation in November but faced resistance from opposition lawmakers worried about the economic impact. The legislative holdup frustrated Trump, who in January threatened to raise tariffs on South Korean autos, pharmaceuticals and other goods back to 25%, increasing pressure on the opposition to move the bill forward.

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed.

A crane unloads a container from a truck at the Uiwang ICD Terminal in Uiwang, South Korea, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A crane unloads a container at the Uiwang ICD Terminal in Uiwang, South Korea, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A truck runs by containers at the Uiwang ICD Terminal in Uiwang, South Korea, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Turcks run by containers at the Uiwang ICD Terminal in Uiwang, South Korea, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The National Assembly passes a law to implement hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. investments at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 12 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)