Article Source: Beat the Street
Last Updated: 4 September 2024 14:32
Beat the Street was created by GP Dr William Bird MBE - a specialist in physical activity, to encourage people to explore their local areas and to make exercise fun. The game has been played by more than 1.9m people in more than 170 locations across the UK including several games in East Kilbride and South Lanarkshire.
East Kilbride residents are veterans of the Beat the Street competition and have clocked up hundreds of thousands of active travel miles while taking part in the game. The last game took place across East Kilbride in the autumn of 2022 when 11,803 people took part which is about 15% of the local population. Together, they walked, cycled and ran 58,478 miles during the six-week game.
The aim of Beat the Street is to encourage communities to move actively and sustainably across their local area whilst making small lifestyle changes, such as walking or cycling to school or work every day. As well as making a significant impact on increasing low levels of physical activity amongst adults and children, the game also helps reduce congestion, improves air quality, and helps families spend time in green spaces together – some participants report that it even helps with maths and map-reading.
The game is open to anyone of any age who would like to take part and takes place across East Kilbride from 18th September to 30th October.
Children use a card and map which will be provided by participating primary schools, and adults can pick up a free card from one of the distribution points listed on the Beat the Street East Kilbride website which will go live shortly at www.beatthestreet.me/eastkilbride
Alternatively, players over the age of 13 can download the free Beat the Street app to play the game with their phone.
Players can join a school, community, workplace team and there are prizes for the teams that travel the furthest with vouchers for books and sports equipment on offer. With an individual leaderboard, lucky ‘spot’ prizes just for taking part, and the opportunity to help selected local charities win cash prizes, there’s something for everyone. For schools and community teams, there is a total points leaderboard and an average leaderboard, so opportunities for teams of all sizes to win prizes.
Once the game is underway, players find their nearest “Beat Box” which will appear on lampposts around the borough. There will be more than 80 of these sensors that record each players’ point tally.
Visit two Beat Boxes within an hour and collect 10 points for each Beat Box, then keep going!
Beat the Street East Kilbride is being delivered by Intelligent Health on behalf of South Lanarkshire Council. The project is supported by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture and is funded by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.
The Chair of South Lanarkshire Council’s Community and Enterprise Resources Committee, Councillor Robert Brown, said: “We are thrilled to be bringing Beat the Street East Kilbride back to the area. Every time it takes place, there is a palpable sense of excitement and competition and it’s just fantastic to see so many people out walking, cycling and running together.
“The game has huge benefits in terms of reducing congestion and pollution and really helps residents discover the area on foot. The game is free to all so please sign up and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to get involved too and let’s see if we can go even further than last time!”
More information will be available at www.beatthestreet.me/eastkilbride and on social media at @BTSEastKilbride
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