Beat the Street game players have travelled over 140,000 miles already – Go Explore this week!

· by · in Children, Children, Schools and Families, Civic Pride, Education and schools, Health and social care, Leisure and sport, Older people, Parks and green spaces, Public health, Young people. ·

The Beat the Street Merton game enters its Go Explore this week to encourage participants to find the borough’s best heritage and cultural gems.

So far, more than 20,300 participants have signed up and have together walked, cycled, run, scooted and wheeled more than 140,000 miles across the game area, with the active travel mileage increasing every day.

At the Go Explore stage of the game there are bonus points on certain Beat Boxes including:

  • Sat 1 Apr 10:30am – 11:30am

Beat the Street is teaming up with our friends, The Walk and Talk Movement. Come along to this free and fun community walk. All ages, all pets, and all abilities are welcome. No ticket required – just turn up. There are five walks happening in different local green spaces across Merton listed at www.beatthestreet.me/merton/events

  • Sat 1 Apr – Sun 2 Apr

This weekend, random Beat Boxes across the area will be giving out triple points.

There’s still time to sign up to get involved in the free community-wide game. Cards are available from the distribution centres on the list at www.beatthestreet.me/merton or alternatively, players over the age of 13 can download the free Beat the Street app. Players then join a school, community, workplace  or charity team; the two official charities are the Mayor’s charities, Dons Local Action Group and Jimmy Asher Foundation.

Currently, Poplar Primary School is top of the total points leaderboard with Wimbledon Chase Primary School in second and St John Fisher RC Primary School in third. On the average points leaderboard, Dons Local Action Group are top with Motspur Park Community FC in second.

One player got in touch with organisers to say: “We wanted to share how excited we are to participate in this adventure. We walked nine miles today so we could get points – this is an amazing project.”

Beat the Street Merton has been commissioned by Merton Council and NHS South West London with support from the National Lottery via Sport England. It is being delivered by Intelligent Health.

Councillor Brenda Fraser, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “It’s great to see how adults and children have embraced the Beat the Street game and clocked up an impressive number of miles. I hear reports from the participating schools that children are happier, more focused and switched on as being active at Beat the Street helps them to concentrate and do better at school.

“This week there are bonus points on offer on some Beat Boxes to help you get out and about and to find new routes to school or work, plus other local areas you may not know about.”

Dr Sayanthan Ganesaratnam, Merton GP and Divisional Medical Director at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust said: “Well done to everyone taking part in Beat the Street Merton. It’s great to see people of all ages making the most of the game with friends and family, while taking those first small steps towards a healthier lifestyle.”

More information is available at www.beatthestreet.me/merton and on social media at @BTSMerton

More information

The game is free and open to anyone who lives, works or studies in Merton and will take place across the borough from Wednesday 15 March to Wednesday 26 April. 

Beat the Street was created by GP Dr William Bird to encourage people to explore their local areas and to make exercise fun. It is part of the Actively Merton programme, which supports people to be more physically and socially active, delivered in a way that residents want it.

To play, children use a special tap card and paper map, distributed by participating primary schools. Adults can pick up their free card from one of Merton’s libraries or leisure centres. Players over the age of 13 can download the free Beat the Street app to play the game by tapping their phone.

How to play

To play, you can use a card or our Beat the Street App (Age 13+). 

 1.       Create your Beat the Street account on our website at beatthestreet.me/Merton or by downloading our Beat the Street App via Google Play or the App Store.

 2.       Add family members, and register a card to player profiles. Set up a team or join an existing one.

 3.       Start your journey. Find your nearest Beat Box using a paper or digital map and hover your card at the contactless Beat Box until it beeps and flashes. If playing with the app, tap the Beat Box icon on your phone and swipe to collect points.

 4.       Visit two Beat Boxes within an hour and collect 10 points for each Beat Box – this is 20 points for the journey.

 5.       Carry on your journey. Score 10 points for each extra Beat Box you visit.

By playing with the Beat the Street App, you get access to exclusive features – collect gems, choose an avatar to represent you in-game and raise the competition in your team leaderboards.