Children in Old Trafford and Stretford have been getting competitive about their walk to school, with a new game designed to get everyone moving more.
Beat the Street, a game designed by Intelligent Health, was implemented in those areas by Trafford Council.
All primary school children in the catchment area were given cards to collect points by finding checkpoints called “Beat Boxes” on the street during their walk to school.
Many got very competitive, with an inter-school leaderboard set up to inspire some friendly competition.
Prizes were also up for grabs, kindly donated by Trafford Council partners including Manchester United, Manchester United Community Foundation, Lancashire Cricket Foundation and Transport for Greater Manchester.
Findings from the implementation of the game were overwhelmingly positive. With over 5,400 players, 89% of players joined a community team, and 49% of players were children. Players walked, cycled, ran, and scooted more than 60,000 miles active travel collectively during the game period!
Perhaps most importantly, surveys conducted before and after the implementation of Beat the Street showed a significant increase in the life satisfaction of participants. Particularly, there was a marked increase in the number of people who agreed with the statement ‘Most people in this neighbourhood are trustworthy’, demonstrating how the game fostered a community spirit among players, both children and adults.
Overall, there was an average of a 1.3 point increase in life satisfaction after playing Beat the Street: almost twice the amount where the game has been implemented elsewhere in the UK.
Helen Gollins, Director of Public Health at Trafford Council, commented:
“It’s amazing to see these results as a consequence of implementing Beat the Street. We wanted a fun way to get people in these communities out and about and using the infrastructure we have been working hard to put in place to make walking and cycling more accessible for everyone. I’d like to thank everyone who embraced Beat the Street: it was fantastic to see so many players from across a variety of different schools competing for the top prizes!”
The project was 50% funded by Sport England.
Darren Morgan, Chair of Trafford Primary Headteachers and Headteacher at King’s Road School, added:
“Beat the Street was a wonderfully well-thought through initiative that, if participated in, significantly positively impacted on physical and mental health, as well as visiting the interesting places and parks that were part of the project. It was exceptionally well marketed, the maps, app and resources were of a high calibre and the location of the beat boxes very well considered. I would struggle to find a way to improve this initiative. Thank you to all of those that were involved.”
Intelligent Health Founder Dr William Bird MBE said:
“Congratulations to all who got involved with the recent Beat the Street Trafford game. The competition is a fun way of encouraging people to ditch the car and to get moving. Not only that, the game empowers whole communities to spend time together in nature for the benefit of their mental and physical health.”
“The initiative is just the beginning – we will now work with local stakeholders and the community to ensure that everyone who took part can continue to implement the healthy lifestyle changes that they have put in place over the course of the game.”
Beat the Street is all part of Trafford Council’s initiative to get people moving more every day. Visit these links for more on the walking and cycling strategy, and how you can move more on your journey to work or school.