Gym Charter

Ridgewood Commons Group Charter: Gym

Working Group / Admin Committee Name: Gym Working Group
Contact Information: [email redacted]

Date Charter Ratified: XX/XX/2025

Connection Statement:

The Gym Working Group stewards a collectively-run, donation-based strength training space within Ridgewood Commons. The gym exists to allow us to build strength as individuals and as a collective in a supportive environment outside the confines of for-profit fitness culture. Through shared labor and non-hierarchical organizing, we maintain the gym as a resource for the Ridgewood Commons community.

Powers & Rights:

The Gym Working Group is empowered to:

• Maintain a collective membership of maximum 45 people, each of whom has 24/7 access to the gym space via door code. [The gym space is the back room of Ridgewood Commons, including the bathroom inside the gym, and the cubbies outside of the gym door.]
• Host regular open gym hours, scheduled and led by collective members. These are the only times when community members not in the gym collective may use the gym.
• Access and contribute to the Ridgewood Commons shared calendar.
• Use the shared Ridgewood Commons space for gym meetings and other events, in coordination with the Planning Working Group and the shared calendar.
• Operate a donation-based model (pay-what-you-can / NOTAFLOF) for collective and community members to support our rent contributions and ongoing equipment and supply needs.

Responsibilities & Liability

Liability:
All individuals using the gym are required to sign a waiver acknowledging the physical nature of the space and releasing Ridgewood Commons and the Gym Working Group from liability in the event of injury.

Rent contribution:
The Gym Working Group contributes a monthly total of $400 to Ridgewood Commons for rent and shared utilities.

This amount is based on an annual review of gym income and expenses and may be updated via proposal to the Spokescouncil and in collaboration with the Finance Working Group and other RC committees to ensure the gym remains sustainable while providing an equitable and comradely contribution to the broader community.

Responsibilities:
The Gym Working Group is responsible for:

• The maintenance and upkeep of the gym space inclusive of the bathroom inside the gym and the cubbies outside of the gym door. Keeping it clean and safe, maintaining fixtures such as lights, etc. with the exception of space-wide maintenance such as electrical wiring, pest control, etc.
• Hosting open gym hours each week to ensure reliable access for community members.
• Onboarding new lifters and collective members through coached sessions, informal orientations, and peer-to-peer support.
• Participating in monthly Spokescouncil meetings.
• Maintaining active communication and collaborative norms with other Ridgewood Commons working groups, especially when sharing the space with other activities or events.
• Coordinating with the Planning Working Group to avoid scheduling gym hours during film screenings, etc., and collaborating around other quiet or high-impact events.
• Collaborating with the Finance Working Group to review financial contributions, assess sustainability, and evaluate the gym’s proposed monthly rent and related expenses.

Gym hosts are responsible for stewarding the space during their shifts, but responsibility for the gym is shared across the collective. All members are expected to uphold the gym’s internal, collectively developed Points of Unity and Community Agreements.

Ratified: XX/XX/2025