GoodGym is a multi-award winning charity that connects exercise with volunteering. In almost 60 cities and boroughs all across the UK, its 19,000 members run, walk and cycle to help isolated older people and community projects. It’s shown to reduce isolation, improve community cohesion and to improve wellbeing for all involved. It is frequently cited as a leading social innovation by the government, mainstream press and leading think tanks.

GoodGym arose out of a frustration with normal gyms being a waste of energy and human potential. In gyms all over the country, people work away furiously peddling, pushing, lifting, running, but achieving no external benefits. GoodGym aims to harness this energy by making it easier for people to channel this energy towards social good.

GoodGym's vision is for getting fit by doing good to be mainstream by making it easy for people to combine exercise with helping people and projects in their community through providing safe, exciting and impactful opportunities. GoodGym uses technology to reduce barriers to participation and encourages and inspires people to combine exercise with helping their community through telling stories and celebrating outcomes and achievements.

Looking ahead, GoodGym wants to grow its reach across the country, increasing participation and the size of its membership from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands.

GoodGym is looking for a new Chair of Trustees to help guide the Board and executive team in its vision for the charity. The Chair will lead the Board as the charity seeks to increase its reach and impact communities across the UK, and will provide counsel and support to the leadership team, holding them to account for GoodGym’s conduct as a charity. The Chair’s primary responsibilities include:

• Ensuring that GoodGym operates within its charitable objectives, follows governance best practice and complies with regulatory requirements, including upholding the safeguarding of beneficiaries
• Bringing a strong, independent voice to support its charity governance and supporting the development of its governance structure
• Contributing to defining strategic objectives and overall vision of the charity, and ensuring that these are regularly reviewed and met and that the Board and leadership team fulfil their responsibilities and are appropriately challenged
• Ensuring that the Board fulfils its duties with regard to ensuring GoodGym’s financial sustainability and accountability, including regular reviews of risks
• Being an ambassador for GoodGym; telling its story and supporting its activities and community values

The incoming Chair will bring board-level experience in any sector and have a solid understanding of the requirements for good governance. They will be willing to lead the Board and serve as a mentor to the Chief Executive to shape and develop its governance arrangements to ensure that they remain fit for purpose as the organisation grows.

As the charity's reach and activity continues to expand, the new Chair will play an important part in increasing its impact. Therefore, the successful candidate should demonstrate a personal contribution to developing and driving a successful growth strategy of an organisation of similar size or larger than that of GoodGym.

Due to a skills gap in the current Board of Trustees, it would be desirable if the incoming Chair also had previous experience working in the sports industry, but this is not essential to the role. The new Chair should be willing to get involved in GoodGym and commit the time to the role, and be able to engage with and encourage an active Board. Candidates should bring a values-led approach and a passion to be involved in GoodGym’s mission to to encourage people to get fit by doing good in their area.

Candidates will be UK-based and willing to travel to London for meetings.

This role is unremunerated, but reasonable, pre-agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed. The appointment is for a three-term initially, renewable once at the discretion of the Board. The expected time commitment is two days per month. There are six evening Board meetings and one away day per year. Meetings are usually held from 5-7pm in central London. In addition to Board meetings, the Chair will also be expected to provide ad-hoc support and advice to the Trustees. Candidates will be UK-based and willing to travel to London for meetings.