The Beat the Street physical activity game is coming to Sheffield!
Beat the Streets is a real life walking, cycling and running game for a whole community, which runs from Wednesday 16th June 2021 – Wednesday 28th July 2021. Beat the Street Sheffield is brought to you by Move More and Sheffield City Council. It is delivered by Intelligent Health, with funding from the National Lottery, Sport England and local partners.
Beat the Street is a free, interactive challenge that encourages people of all ages to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives by turning the city into a six-week game. The game is outdoors, completely contactless and players take part in their family groups or support bubbles.
Participants are encouraged to walk, cycle, run, wheel or scoot as far as possible within the local area, with prizes of sports or book vouchers for the teams that clock up the highest number of miles.
Since it was founded, the game has been played by more than 1.2m people and has been adapted to ensure that it’s safe to play during the COVID-19 pandemic with the approval of Public Health England. Beat the Street Sheffield will be our biggest game to date and we hope that 50,000 local residents will take part.
Players use a free card or fob which they hover over special sensors called “Beat Boxes” which will appear on lampposts around Sheffield. These are placed approximately half a mile apart and you simply hover your card or fob over it. It will beep and flash and will register your points!
Players can join a school or community team or you could help raise up to £500 for Sheffield Children’s by allocating your miles to the charity team. As well as encouraging people to get active, Beat the Street has been shown to get communities more engaged, less car-dependent and fitter which is vital in Sheffield’s recovery from COVID-19.
More than 33,000 people played the Beat the Street game safely in various UK towns in autumn 2020 with many players reporting that it had a positive impact on their mental health at an anxious time.
Greg Fell, director of Public Health in Sheffield, said: “We are incredibly excited to be bringing Beat the Street to Sheffield. We know that one of the best things people can do right now for their physical and mental health is to move more and to get out into green space where possible, and Beat the Street really helps people do just that in a safe and enjoyable way.
“Beat the Street is free and it’s open to everyone regardless of age, ability or background. It encourages you to get active from your front door so pick up a card and get playing!”
Played outdoors in the local community, Beat the Street is the perfect way to get you and your family back into action, off screens and out of the house, having fun and exercising together. We have been working alongside Sheffield’s public health advisors to ensure the game can be launched safely.
Being physically active improves physical and mental health and boosts our body’s natural immunity to fight off viruses, including coronavirus.
Score points and win prizes by walking, cycling or running from point to point and swiping a registered Beat the Street card or fob at contactless sensors (Beat Boxes) which are placed on lamp posts across Sheffield. Check out the map to see where you can play!
There are fantastic prizes on offer for individuals and teams on our leaderboards for schools, community & workplaces along with running and cycling teams! School teams are able to win hundreds of pounds of sport or book vouchers on each leaderboard while community and workplace along with running and cycling teams will be eligible to win hundreds of pounds worth of sports and fitness vouchers. Registered players are eligible to win a ‘Lucky Box’ prize by swiping their card/fob at a Beat Box throughout the game. Register online by creating a Beat the Street account www.beatthestreet.me/sheffield.