Reading residents celebrated the end of the towns third Beat the Street competition with a literally giant finale in Reading town centre.
To celebrate Reading travelling more than 290,000 miles during the seven-week game, Intelligent Health extended the Reading competition by one day to team up with The Rising Sun Arts Centre —an independent arts venue in Reading — for their parade of giants through the town centre.
During the procession, one of The Rising Sun Art Centres 30ft giants made a detour during his journey to an oversized Beat Box which produced a stream of bubbles when tapped by the giant.
In addition to the giant procession, Intelligent Health transformed Readings high street into a giant playground, encouraging children to draw on the ground with chalk and play pavement games like hopscotch.
Dan Harris, Engagement Manager for Beat the Street Reading, said: “Beat the Street has been a massive success in Reading this year with local residents travelling an astronomical 290,000 miles. It only seemed fitting to celebrate the huge level of involvement with an equally giant finale.”
Dr Rupert Woolley, lead GP for the project on behalf of the NHS Reading Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), said: “The competition has been very much the talk of the town for the past seven weeks and many people say they will miss the Beat Boxes, but I hope everyone will keep up their new walking and cycling habits, for the huge health benefits this brings.”
Graeme Hoskin, Reading Councils Lead Member for Health, added: “People across Reading always love taking part in Beat the Street — the giant finale was a fitting end to the competition which has helped thousands of people across Reading get more active.”
View footage of The Flint Giant playing Beat the Street on the Facebook page for Beat the Street Reading.
