People are expected to take to the streets across Rye and East Sussex from June 7 to July 26, “Beat the Street” is a free fun challenge which will turn East Sussex into a big game where people are rewarded with points and prizes for exploring their local area on foot or by bicycle.
Special sensors called “Beat Boxes” will appear across the county, with around a dozen in Rye itself. Once players have picked up their own Beat the Street card and map at their local library or leisure centre, they can swipe as many Beat Boxes as possible in Rye and across the county to receive points and win prizes.
Teams across East Sussex will be competing against each other to see who can travel the furthest and win prizes. Players can create their own teams with their friends or colleagues or register to join an existing team or school to be in with a chance to win big prizes which will be announced in the next few weeks.
The initiative is run by Intelligent Health and funded by NHS Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford CCG and East Sussex County Council’s Public Health team. It forms part of a comprehensive programme of activity to improve health through the East Sussex Better Together programme, and is part of the Connecting 4 You programme in the west of the county.
More than 300,000 people took part in Beat the Street in 2016 in towns and cities across the UK including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Reading, Liverpool and Belfast. The initiative in East Sussex will be the largest Beat the Street challenge to take place yet – with boxes across the whole county.
Cynthia Lyons, East Sussex Acting Director of Public Health said: “We are incredibly excited to be bringing Beat the Street to East Sussex and can’t wait to see how far everyone is able to walk, run, cycle and scoot during the seven-week challenge.
Anyone is able to get involved in Beat the Street – it’s completely free to play and is a great opportunity to go outdoors, spend time with your friends and family and get moving. Watch out for Beat Boxes appearing on a street near you!”
For many people becoming more active could be the best medicine they can take! Being more physically active makes people feel better, more energetic and improves mood . It can also help to lower the risk of serious illnesses like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.”
Want to find out more about Beat the Street? Visit beatthestreet.me/eastsussex – or follow @BTSEastSussex on Twitter or ‘Beat the Street East Sussex’ on Facebook for more information on prizes and how to get involved.
Photo: library image