Green Gym

The Conservation Volunteers' Green Gym programme aims to provide people with a way to enhance their fitness and health while taking action to improve the outdoor environment. It can be seen as enabling people to get fit who would not normally attend a conventional gym or sports centre.

Organization
As of 2006 the majority of Green Gym groups are run directly by The Conservation Volunteers, the community volunteering charity. The rest are either self-supporting or run under license by other organisations. A Green Gym Licence Agreement provides the framework for an organisation to run a Green Gym project.

Origins and development
The Green Gym concept was originally developed in the late 1990s by Dr William Bird an Oxford-based general practitioner and The Conservation Volunteers (then BTCV). The first pilot was held in 1997. By 2006 there were 55 projects across the United Kingdom with an estimated 6,000 people taking part. The programme won a Charity Award in 2005.

What happens
Green Gym groups meet at least once a week and do between 1 and 4 hours practical conservation or gardening work. All participants are Volunteers. Over two-thirds have never taken part in environmental conservation work before. Examples of the types of work undertaken include coppicing, clearing scrubland, path building, tree planting or digging on an allotment.

The group usually meets at the project site. Sessions include a refreshment break and a chance to socialise. Activities are led by a qualified leader, and a session will typically run as follows:


 * 1) 'Tool Talk' - the safe handling and correct use of tools are discussed
 * 2) Warm up - exercises to prepare muscles for activity and reduce the risk of injury
 * 3) Work session
 * 4) Refreshments
 * 5) Work session
 * 6) Gather up tools
 * 7) Cool down - exercises to prevent stiffness