Residents encouraged to sign up for Beat the Street 2019
Beat the street is back! Beat the Street is set to return to Swindon and residents can now pick up their cards ready to join in the fun when the game launches.
2019 is the second year of the initiative running in Swindon. Beat the Street encourages people to get active outdoors. It turns whole towns and cities into a giant game. Players tap cards and fobs against sensors called Beat Boxes while walking or cycling to earn points. Whether competing as a team or an individual there are prizes to win.
Last year’s event was a huge success. An unprecedented 32,000 local people took part. They walked and cycled a massive 313,000 miles in six weeks. A record for any of the Beat the Street challenges so far.
This year’s challenge begins on Wednesday, 25 September and runs for six weeks.
A launch event will be taking place on the day from 4pm – 6pm at the GWR Park on Faringdon Road. There will fun activities and double points available on Beat Boxes.
Intelligent Health organize the game with funding from the National Lottery via Sport England and Swindon Borough Council.
Beat the Street starts on 25th September, and cards and maps will shortly vavailable from distribution points including Swindon Central Library.
From left: Peter Barrett and Omelia Legg, library and info assistants at Swindon Central Library pictured with Stuart Arthur from Beat the Street.
Primary school pupils will have a fob given to them. Other players can collect cards and a map for free from distribution points across Swindon. They include selected supermarkets, libraries and leisure centres.
Find a full list of distribution points at www.beatthestreet.me/Swindon.
How to play
Players can choose to join a school or workplace team, set up their own community group or join one of the teams playing on the charity leaderboard for one of the Mayor’s chosen charities. They are: Swindon and North Wiltshire Deaf Children’s Society or CALM (Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Movement).
Councillor Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said:
“Beat the Street is only one week away. So make sure you pick up a card and map so that you’re ready to start earning points for your chosen school or team straight away.
“We’ve already seen lots of excitement ahead of the game kicking off. Primary schools are eager to travel even further than last year and lots of workplaces and community teams are signing up to play. Beat the Street is a fun way to get active and explore new areas of Swindon. So I encourage people to get involved. Last year we were one of the top towns so let’s beat that this year and be the top town in the country.”
On the theme of exploring Swindon have a root round:
- https://swindonian.me/category/parks-and-open-spaces/
- https://swindonian.me/category/artscultureheritage/west-swindon-sculpture-walk-artscultureheritage/
More information is available at www.beatthestreet.me/Swindon.
