Beat the Street set to return to Hounslow
18 April 2019
Beat the Street set to return to Hounslow
Beat the Street – an initiative that aims to get people walking and cycling through a giant game – is returning to Hounslow for the first time in two years.
Running this Autumn from 18 September to 30 October, Beat the Street will see the whole borough of Hounslow turned into a giant game. Hundreds of sensors called Beat Boxes will be hidden across the borough which players tap with contactless cards and key fobs to track their journey and earn points.
Over the six weeks, players join teams from local schools, businesses and community groups and compete to see if their team can score the most points and win hundreds of pounds worth of prizes.
The game will be returning to Hounslow for the first time since 2017 when more than 29,000 residents walked, ran and cycled 160,000 miles together. More than 80 local primary schools, workplaces and community groups competed against each other to see how far they could travel.
Beat the Street is funded by Hounslow Borough Council and delivered by Intelligent Health. The aim of the initiative is encourage local families to ditch the car and instead walk and cycle around their community: decreasing congestion, improving air quality and improving their health by getting physically active.
41% of people in Hounslow do not meet the physical activity guidelines of 30 minutes of exercise per day. Results from Beat the Street in 2017 showed a 27% decrease in the number of cars arriving at schools, a 12% increase in people walking to school and a 4% decrease in adults being inactive.
Players from 2017 saw a number of benefits of taking part:
“It helped us start walking again and we tried to do so as much as possible. It helped the family stop using the car as often as we used to and it is good to see the children happy.”
“I normally drive everywhere however this scheme encouraged me and my daughter to walk more often in hope of seeing Beat Boxes”
“I ruptured my Achilles tendon last Sept, and am having rehab physiotherapy to help me walk properly again. I used the Beat the Street game to do some extended walking, and thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Intelligent Health, the organisers behind the Beat the Street, promise that this year’s game with be even bigger and better with new events and prizes given out over the six week competition.