Fitness & Donating. 5 Healthy Ways to Give Back. 

Blog 006 – Published August 2022

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If you love moving your body and exercising regularly, here is a list of 5 ways you can give back to the community. If you’re the sporty type, these are perfect for you!

1 Charity Miles

Is there a cause you want to support? The Charity Miles app lets you turn your daily run or hike into a fundraiser, every mile you move means more money for your chosen charity. The app works with over 40 charities focused on making a positive impact in many different areas including the environment, animals, education and much more. The app is available on both Apple and Android app stores and lets you log different forms of movement from walking to dancing to cycling, it’s suitable for every lifestyle. As written on their site, “side effects may include empathy, mindfulness and gratitude.”

2 Volunteer as a coach or buddy

Programs such as Girls on the Run are volunteer-led and work to promote the benefits of exercise. You can volunteer as a coach in your local community where you’ll work with a group for around 10 weeks or as a running buddy during a 5K event. Other organisations you can get involved with include GoodGym, where you can run regularly to see an isolated older person, who could sometimes go months without seeing friends or family. Greenhouse Sports is another project taking on volunteers in all areas from coaching to photography and your skills could really impact a young person’s life. There are countless opportunities out there to have your workout really make a difference.

3 Marathons or Fun Runs

For the long-distance runners out there, competing in a marathon or half-marathon might be more appealing. Fundraising at marathons usually begins by the athlete setting a fundraising goal and then collecting items or funds from friends and family to help them reach it with part of the raised money going towards covering the cost of entry to a local race. A fun way for donors to encourage the athlete to reach the finish line is to pledge to donate a certain amount per mile completed. There are also other fundraising events requiring less training and endurance such as fun runs or walk-a-thons, which provide a more approachable way to encourage exercise and bring the community together while raising money for charity. Search for the next event happening in your area and you could help a great charity while getting those endorphins going!

4 Fitness Classes for Charity

But what if your passion is yoga? Or spin class? Well don’t worry because there are events in many cities that support charities through fitness. In these cases what you pay for the class gets donated either partially or fully to charity although some events may be free and encourage a pay-what-you-can donation instead. You can also search for online donation-based classes which can bring you closer to your fitness goals while supporting small businesses within your community.

5 Donate your shoes for good

Have an old pair of running shoes lying around? Give them a second chance and support sustainability efforts by donating them! Initiatives like JogOn are creating awareness around the millions of usable items that end up in landfill every year. If you’d like to recycle your running shoes, you can send them to JogOn and with the help of their partners across 15 destinations worldwide, your shoes will be given to someone who could really use them. For £2 you can send them up to 40 pairs of shoes.