Can You Beat the Street?
by Colne Life magazine
Beat the Street is a fun way of getting everyone in the community more active by turning the town into a free, fun, giant game...
A popular interactive game that turns whole communities into a giant activity competition is set to launch across Pendle District from Wednesday, 18th September to Wednesday, 30th October. It’s free to take part and open to everyone of any age, ability or background! All you need to take part is a free Beat the Street card (or the app for 13+) and a pair of sturdy shoes!
The game has been specially designed by a 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 1.8m people in 168 locations in the UK, including nearby Burnley, in 2021, 2022 and 2023. During the latest incarnation of the Beat the Street Burnley competition, 12,364 people signed up and walked, cycled and wheeled their way to a total of 155,121 active travel miles.
There are prizes for the teams that travel the furthest, with vouchers for books and sports equipment on offer.
It’s free to take part and open to anyone in the community of any age or ability. Nearer to the start date, participating primary schools will provide a card and map to children with a card for an adult to accompany them. The wider community can pick up a free card from one of the distribution points at beatthestreet.me/pendle
Players can join a school, community, or workplace team. The teams that travel the furthest win prizes, including vouchers for books and sports equipment.
“We cannot wait to bring Beat the Street to Pendle! It’s a fantastic, gripping game…”
Once the game is underway, players will find their nearest “Beat Box,” which will appear on lampposts around the borough. More than 110 of these sensors will record each player’s point tally. These sensors are contactless so that you don’t need to touch them –hover your card over the Beat Box, and it will beep and flash to record your points.
Alison Goode, CEO of Pendle Leisure Trust, said: “We cannot wait to bring Beat the Street to Pendle! It’s a fantastic, gripping game that really helps achieve positive results in getting people active, reducing congestion and improving community cohesion. It’s free to sign up, so please give it a go and have a go at walking, cycling or other forms of active travel. Let’s see if we can go further than Beat the Street Burnley players!”
ColneLife Sept/Oct 24
