They’re off! Beat the Street launches across East Renfrewshire

Despite the storms, there was a good turnout at the event at Rouken Glen Park and undeterred by the bad weather, nearly 4,500 people across Giffnock, Thornliebank, Clarkston, Busby, Eaglesham & Waterfoot, and Neilston have registered to sign up.

Together, participants have walked, cycled and run more than 8,000 miles in just a couple of days.

Beat the Street challenges schools, workplaces and community groups to see how far they can walk, run or cycle over six weeks in return for points and prizes. The game takes place until 1st April and is open to anyone in the community, of any ages, who would like to get more active.

It’s free to take part and players tap contactless cards or key fobs against the 37 Beat Boxes on lampposts to track their journey and earn points for their team.

Schools, workplaces and community groups will be competing against each other to see if they can travel the furthest during the six-week challenge, top the leaderboards and win hundreds of pounds worth of prizes. The teams that score the most points over the course of the game can win hundreds of pounds worth of vouchers for sports or fitness equipment or books. There’s a total points leaderboard and an average points leaderboard so that teams of all sizes are in with a chance of winning prizes.

Primary schools across the area will be handing out free fobs to their pupils, together with a map plus a card for an adult to accompany them. Anyone else who would like to take part can pick up a Beat the Street card via distribution points which are listed on the website at www.beatthestreet.me/eastrenfrewshire

Workplaces and community groups are encouraged to challenge each other and join the game and enter their team. You can also join one of three local charity teams to help them win a share of the prize pot; these are ER Good Causes; SupER Kids and East Renfrewshire Carers.

In addition to the leaderboard prizes, registered players can win weekly prizes including sport and fitness vouchers, Beat the Street branded goodies and even cuddly ‘Beattie’ hedgehog toys.

More than one million people have played Beat the Street worldwide with previous games taking place in more than 100 locations including Glasgow, Colchester and Milton Keynes, and Barrhead and Newton Mearns who travelled more than 62,000 miles last year. The game is currently taking place in East Kilbride where players have travelled nearly 19,000 miles.

Beat the Street East Renfrewshire has been commissioned by East Renfrewshire Council with support from Paths for All’s Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme. It is being delivered by Intelligent Health.

Councillor Tony Buchanan, Leader of East Renfrewshire Council, said: “Beat the Street is a positive and engaging way of encouraging the community to get active and we’re urging everyone to get involved by registering a card and then tapping!

“Thanks to everyone who came to the launch event and got the Beat the Street game underway. We’re inviting anyone to get involved in the game and consider walking, cycling or running instead of driving. Not only will you be getting active and doing great things for your health, but you’ll be benefitting the community too and you could win prizes along the way.”

Each week of the competition has a different theme ranging from Go Explore to Go Travel, so keep an eye on the weekly newsletters and on social media for news on what’s happening and how to score bonus points.

To find out more, visit beatthestreet.me/eastrenfrewshire for more information.