Beat the Street physical activity game coming back to Renfrewshire!

The popular physical activity game Beat the Street is officially returning to Renfrewshire. The walking and cycling initiative designed to encourage active travel will be back for six weeks from Wednesday 13 September 2023 to Wednesday 25 October 2023.

This time, Beat the Street will turn Renfrew, Bishopton, Inchinnan, Erskine and Langbank into a huge game where players can earn points and prizes for themselves and their team by walking, wheeling or cycling around their local area.

During the game, 46 Beat Boxes will be placed on lampposts across the five areas and participants can play the game by swiping their card over a Beat Box to register the beginning of their journey, before walking, wheeling or cycling to the next Beat Box within an hour to score 20 points.

Participating primary schools will provide children with a card and map, while adults can pick up a free card from one of the distribution points shown on the Beat the Street Renfrewshire website.

There will be prizes for the school and community teams that travel the furthest with a total points leaderboard and an average leaderboard to give teams of all sizes an opportunity to win prizes, and there will also be a leaderboard for individuals to find the top Beat the Street player in the area.

To make it more exciting, there will be several events throughout the six-week game period, such as park walks and nature trails, designed to promote active travel and encourage communities to come together to play the game.

Councillor Michelle Campbell, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, said: “I’m delighted that Beat the Street is returning to Renfrewshire as the previous games have been extremely popular with people of all ages and abilities and contributes to our aim of encouraging healthy, active lifestyles. It’s a fantastic way to get your steps in and have fun at the same time and I’m looking forward to taking part when the game begins.”

Beat the Street aims to get communities moving by helping people to make small changes every day to improve health and help make active travel become part of everyday life. 

The game has previously been played in Johnstone, Linwood, Lochwinnoch, Elderslie, Howwood, Bridge of Weir, Houston, Kilbarchan and Paisley and had a substantial impact on increasing active travel, as well as giving families, friends and businesses the opportunity to spend time together outdoors and to enjoy their local green spaces.

Beat the Street Renfrewshire has been commissioned by Renfrewshire Council and is funded by the Scottish Government’s Air Quality Action Plan Fund and Paths for All’s Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme. It is being delivered by Intelligent Health.

More information will be available at www.beatthestreet.me/renfrewshire and you can follow the game on Facebook @BTSRenfrewshire, via X @RenfrewshireBTS, and on Instagram @BeattheStreetHQ.