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Beat the Street is a 7 week walking and cycling challenge in which residents can collect points for the number of miles they travel on foot or bike. Everyone can take part with prizes for individuals and their teams up for grabs, including a share of £5,000 worth of prizes for the teams that travel the furthest during the challenge.
The challenge, which has been launched by the City of Wolverhampton Council's Public Health team as part of its Call to Action to tackle the growing obesity epidemic facing the city, has been a massive hit when it has been staged in other parts of the UK and America.
The game takes place from Wednesday 24 February until Wednesday 13 April, 2016. To play, people should pick up their Beat the Street card from a range of venues, including their local library, leisure centre, community centre or Wolverhampton Art Gallery, and register online at Type=links;Linkid=6827;Title=Beat the Street;Target=_blank;.
To log their journeys, players simply tap their card against 2 of the 190 or so special sensors, called Beat Boxes, which will be placed on lampposts across Wolverhampton.
Tapping the card against the nearest Beat Box at the start of their journey, and another at the end, will calculate the distance travelled. Points are awarded and recorded against the card and will go towards their individual and team total and towards the city's overall challenge total.
Players can monitor their progress by logging on to the Beat the Street website and top scorers - including teams and individuals - will be in the running for some great prizes.
As well as individuals and families, schools in Wolverhampton are being invited to take part with pupils, staff and parents joining forces to Beat the Street, while voluntary organisations and businesses large and small are also encouraged to form teams and enter the challenge.
Councillor Sandra Samuels, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: "Beat the Street is a hugely exciting programme that has really got people involved wherever it has taken place.
"We're very excited about it coming to Wolverhampton this spring as it will encourage local residents and families to become more physically active whilst also having great fun at the same time."
Beat the Street is run by Intelligent Health and founder Dr William Bird said: "We want to see adults and children across Wolverhampton getting involved and really enjoying the game.
"Walking is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways of getting fitter and healthier and Beat the Street has been designed to ensure that people really get the most out of it, from meeting people on the streets and exploring their local area through to improving their health and wellbeing."
Anyone interested in taking part in Beat the Street should click onto Type=links;Linkid=6827;Title=Beat the Street;Target=_blank;, Type=links;Linkid=6828;Title=Facebook;Target=_blank; or Type=links;Linkid=6829;Title=Twitter;Target=_blank; to find out more, with registration opening soon.
- released: Thursday 4 February, 2016