Published on
29 May 2024
Put your best foot forward and Beat the Street
Prizes are up for grabs to those who earn the most points for walking or cycling across the borough
A popular community game designed to get everyone more active by exploring Wokingham Borough is coming back this summer.
Beat the Street will take place across Wokingham town, Winnersh, Woodley, Twyford, Finchampstead, Arborfield, Hurst and Wargrave from next Wednesday (5 June) to Wednesday 17 July.
The game, which is free to enter and open to all ages and abilities, sees players compete for points by tapping a special contactless card on “Beat Boxes” at more than 100 locations.
The boxes will be attached to lampposts and people can either walk between them or use other types of healthy, sustainable travel like cycling.
Anyone can pick up a free Beat the Street card from locations across the borough, or download the app if they’re over 13 years old, so it’s an easy way to discover more local sights.
The routes pass lots of local green spaces, including nature parks, and there is a map with the locations of all Beat Boxes.
A fun start to a healthier lifestyle
Beat the Street is run by Intelligent Health in partnership with the council’s My Journey Wokingham active travel team. It’s funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
When it was last played, some 6,263 participants walked, cycled, wheeled and scooted 151,531 miles – the equivalent of walking from London to Tokyo and back 13 times. Afterwards, a survey found that many were regularly ditching the car for healthy alternatives.
The council hopes lots of people will take part again. It’s a great way for people to get outside, even if they haven’t been active for a while, and connect with their neighbours and surroundings.
It also encourages people to pick up healthier habits in the long run, because it shows how fun and easy it is to build activity into daily life. On top of the physical benefits, being more active improves people’s mental health and even makes it easier for children to learn in school.
Sign up today, get ready to play
To play, residents can sign up and pick up a free card from one of the locations listed, or download the app for Apple or Android devices. Once the game launches, they can visit two Beat Boxes within an hour to collect their first points - and keep going from there.
Players can join a school, community, family or workplace team and there are prizes for those who travel furthest, including books and sports equipment vouchers. There’s a series of local leaderboards and “spot” prizes for taking part, plus a chance to win donations for local charities.
Beat the Street was first held in Reading, where founder and GP Dr William Bird is based, and has since been played by more than 1.8m people in 168 places across the UK. You can follow it on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
