Beat the Street has built a powerful legacy of physical activity for families and residents living in Birmingham.
Running from February to April 2016, the Beat the Street Birmingham game saw more than 2,700 residents travel over 13,000 miles. Four months since the competition, Beat the Street has created a powerful legacy for the game by organising events and initiatives including a Caribbean carnival, community football competition and a mental health awareness cricket match. The events have been supported by Handsworth Community.
Beat the Street have also helped launch free women’s only bike rides in Handsworth which have enabled up to fifty women with little to no experience in riding a bicycle the chance to enjoy bike rides led by qualified instructors.
The sessions were organised as part of feedback following the Beat the Street game. Beat the Street then arranged for the bespoke sessions to be arranged after consulting with Big Bikes Birmingham — a cycling initiative launched by Birmingham City Council.
The success of the scheme recently saw Beat the Street’s Women’s only bike sessions featured on BBC Midlands today as part of a feature on the one year anniversary of Big Bikes Birmingham.
Asad Agha, Engagement Manager for Beat the Street Birmingham, said: “We have been able to achieve so much success in Birmingham by listening to what Beat the Street participants wanted to see in their local community. As a result, we have been able to signpost people to healthy activities, support events and initiatives and reach out to even more people in Birmingham.”
After the completion of the six-week game, Beat the Street continues to engage with the local community by signposting people to events and supporting campaigns and initiatives that will inspire more people to become physically active.
Dr William Bird, CEO and Founder of Intelligent Health, said: “Beat the Street continues to build active communities once the game has been completed. Birmingham is just one of many areas where we are working with local residents to promote existing activities and create new opportunities to get everyone more active.”
