Beat the Street, the walking and cycling initiative that saw people in Swindon travel more than 300,000 miles last year, is set to return this September and is promising to be even bigger and better than before.
Last year, more than 32,000 people across Swindon walked, ran and cycled a record-breaking 313,000 miles in just six weeks as part of the Beat the Street challenge.
Beat the Street encourages people to walk, cycle and explore their area by turning 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 towards their school or workplace.
The teams that score the most points over the course of the game can win hundreds of pounds worth of prizes. In 2018, the top school was Ferndale Primary & Nursery who travelled more than 17,000 miles. This year, dozens of teams will be battling it out to win tons of prizes to help their school, business or community group.
Intelligent Health, the organisers behind Beat the Street, are promising that this year’s initiative will be even bigger and better than before with more Beat Boxes covering more parts of Swindon, new prizes and lots of exciting events and activities taking place during the game.
Beat the Street is funded by The National Lottery through Sport England and Swindon Borough Council.
Cllr Brian Ford, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said: “Beat the Street was such a success in Swindon last year with so many families out walking, cycling and tapping the boxes during the six-week competition. This year is set to be even more exciting and we want to see if we can beat last year’s incredible distance.
“Look out for more news and announcements in the coming weeks and make sure you join in the challenge to see how far you can travel around Swindon.”
Beat the Street will be returning to Swindon on 25 September. More information on this year’s prizes and events will be revealed soon but people interested in getting involved and entering their workplace or community group into the competition can get in touch via team.swindon@beatthestreet.me.