They ran (Two) Circles around us

Two Circles, a successful sports marketing company, approached us with an idea. A vision for their first team day of 2024, celebrating their big wins early in the year - and there were plenty.

Needless to say, we were happy for the help as our minds whizzed with ideas of the good we could do with 200+ extra pairs of hands.

Here’s the numbers.

• 200+ Two Circles employees participated.
• 400+ volunteer hours were given to supporting community projects.
• 9 sessions ran across 6 different London boroughs simultaneously.
• Participants ran, walked and cycled over 600 kms.

Divide and conquer was the approach given such an influx of eager helpers. GoodGym is about doing good and getting fit, where everyone can get involved. Hanging around because we’ve got too many people just isn’t our style, and it’s not Two Circles either. 9 sessions were crafted, each led by committed GoodGymers - a quick shout out to them and to Jason from Two Circles for making it this happen.

Laura, Area Activator for Tower Hamlets took charge, but without the support of Sam, Yianny, Mark, Harvey, Anastasia, Brahma, Alex and Joel leading their respective sessions, it would never have been possible.

What did GoodGym and Two Circles achieve?

• Created private spaces for impactful conversations at a Westminster youth club.
• Dug deep to extend a pond, supporting a declining frog population in Camden.
• Searched for the most unusual item during a litter pick in Hackney (a pair of undies).
• Donned work gloves, wheelbarrows and rakes to restore public spaces in 6 London boroughs.
• Helped Two Circles employees form deeper connections with the communities they live and work in by doing good and getting fit.

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Want to know more about the sessions?

Below you’ll find reports from our session leaders for each of the 9 sessions run that day.

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Southwark - Ivy got a good feeling about this

After meeting the group, the eager Two Circles employees headed to Aberdour Court to tidy a couple of outside spaces so they can be used by residents.

Lambeth - Let’s (Thames) Reach Higher!

The group helped out Thames Reach (TR), a charity working with those suffering from homelessness to find decent homes, build supportive relationships and lead fulfilling lives.

Tower Hamlets - Weed never have done this without you

Made our way to the Royal Foundation of Saint Katherine to work on a new project, transforming a disused space into a garden area around that Yurt Café.

Southwark - Thank you very mulch

Thorlands Gardens welcomed GoodGym for some serious gardening. Mulching, pruning and weeding were the tasks of the day, leaving 17 Two Circles employees unable to fault the session as they had fun, a workout, helped out a local community garden - even learning a few tips and tricks about gardening along the way.

Hackney - If only I could be mulching up that hill with no problems

30 Two Circles employees donned work gloves and got to mulching. The teamwork and cooperation was there for all to see, and they worked hard (sweat was visible).

Hackney - A round a Bout with the Undie taker

The group opted to create a safe, welcoming and more beautiful space for the local community by giving the area a good clean up. It was only right that we included a competitive element to the task, so we decided we would challenge each other to find the most interesting item, the heaviest and the most filled bag. The (un)fortunate winner of the most unusual item found a pair of undies!

Tower Hamlets - Flower Power

The Two Circles squad rolled up with enthusiasm and numbers to plant various bulbous flowers into the Church Gardens. Some of the Two Circles team weren't seasoned gardeners, but made up for it with a fuss-free, positive attitude. We estimated that around 300 – 400 flowers were planted.

Camden - If you’d have went down to Ingestre Woods on Friday… you’d have seen Two Circles

Weaving between trees and traversing muddy banks were several folk bagging oodles of litter. Across 80 minutes, this team absolutely transformed the look and feel of this special space.

In the depths of the woods were our diggers, they were helping both us and the local frogspawn by deepening the pond which has become a favourite habitat for tadpoles, yet our hotter summers have been drying out their home.

Westminster - St Andrew’s: Fix up, look sharp

The group met at the 'Oldest Youth Club in the World’, taking a tour around the tardis-like building to hear about the huge variety of activities the club offers to over 200 young people a week.

Two circles employees got stuck in cleaning the storage are to make space for the kit, and creating a counselling room to facilitate impactful conversations in a private space for the young people.