Do good, get fit with GoodGym Portsmouth - Social mission volunteer

Alongside our main volunteering role, “Group Runner”, GoodGym Portsmouth are piloting a scheme for supporting older people experiencing social isolation. A GoodGym Social Mission Volunteer will visit an older person in their home and spend an hour chatting with them. The older person will have been referred to GoodGym by a professional from either the local authority, health services or the charitable sector. The referrer can request visits for between 6 and 12 weeks. The same volunteer does not need to be available for each of the weeks and session times are often flexible.

As well as offering Social Visits, GoodGym Social Mission Volunteers can also help out with one-off, practical support tasks. These tasks will also have been requested by a professional working with the older person where it has been identified there are no nearby family, friends or services to support them.

As the main ethos is to do good whilst getting fit, we would encourage volunteers to run, walk or cycle to their visit.

Both of these missions require a DBS Check before a volunteer can start visiting older people at home.

FAQs

I'm not a runner, can I still join GoodGym? 

Yes, absolutely. We want you to get involved whether you want to run, walk or cycle with us.

We offer 3 types of activity - Group Runs, Community Missions and Social Missions (please see separate role descriptor for Group Runs and Community Missions – “Group Runner”).  You can decide whether you want to run, walk or cycle. Group Runs are the only activity in which you are unable to cycle and some of the longer runs would be unsuitable for walkers.

If you're still worried, or if you have any questions, you can get in touch and we’ll support you to get to the stage where you're confident enough to join in with the main group.

Do I have to pay? 

No, you don’t have to pay, but if you decide to become a member you can opt to make a donation if you like. We recommend a monthly donation but we certainly don’t want anyone not to join because they can’t afford it; asking our runners to cover their costs helps us keep the project alive.

Do I need any special gear?

Not at all, all you need is a pair of trainers. You don’t need to splash out on loads of specialist gear, but if you’re planning on running regularly it is worth getting a pair of running shoes as this will protect your feet much better than a pair of all-round trainers.

We recommend you don’t wear your snazziest gear. We almost always do some kind of physical work that is more distressing for your gear than normal running. Be prepared to get your hands dirty. Each mission is listed with a task description – if it seems appropriate then bringing gardening or building gloves is often a good idea, but not essential.

You will need an email address to create an online account. 

About the organisation

We're a group of local residents who run, walk, or cycle to help out community projects and older people in Portsmouth.

From hanging curtains for Mr H because he can't manage it on his own, to shovelling a tonne of compost for the Food Growers Group so they can grow vegetables - every GoodGym session is different.

**Please check your Junk email folder in case any emails end up here, we will be touch with you within a few days by email. Friendly reminder that the charities/organisations emails may end up here too. **

Skills

You need to be able to undertake physical tasks although some can be adapted to make them less physical.

DBS check required