The people of Wolverhampton collectively walked, cycled or ran nearly 200,000 miles taking part in the unique Beat the Street challenge.
Thousands of residents young and old took part, clocking up a fantastic total of 196,395 miles during the seven-week game — that’s the equivalent of 393 million steps, or burning around 20 million calories.
Beat the Street was launched on 24 February, 2016, by the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Public Health team as part of its Call to Action to tackle the obesity problem facing the city.
And it has proved a hit, with over 27,000 people collecting their Beat the Street game cards and swiping the 200 Beat Boxes which were erected on lampposts around the city, collecting points and miles in the process.
Prizes were on offer to the best performing teams, with local schools walking off with the honours following the end of the game on Wednesday (13 April, 2016).
Dovecotes Primary School scooped £1,000 worth of Decathlon sports vouchers, coming first in the total points category with an incredible 414,580 points, closely followed by St Luke’s CE School and D’Eyncourt Primary School who won £500 and £250 in vouchers after coming second and third overall with 316,800 and 231,000 points respectively.
Dovecotes Primary School PE coordinator Ben Evans said: “Everyone associated with Dovecotes has thoroughly enjoyed the Beat the Street experience.
“We have a fantastic community who have all stepped up to the challenge with the shared goal of promoting a healthier lifestyle for our children. With all this support, the children cannot help but be winners.”
Prizes were also awarded to the teams which scored the highest points per player, with a team representing the City Economy department at the City of Wolverhampton Council coming top with 2,145 points per player. They generously agreed to donate their £1,000 prize to the team who came second, Wolverhampton’s Walking for Health Group. TLC College and Nursery came third and collected £500.
Meanwhile, a host of spot prizes were also won by individuals who swiped designated Beat Boxes around the city at various points during the challenge, from Decathlon vouchers to Grand Theatre tickets, gym passes from WV Active, fruit and vegetable hampers from the city’s markets and even an executive box for a forthcoming Wolverhampton Wanderers match.
Wolverhampton’s Director of Public Health Ros Jervis said: “I’d like to say a big well done to each and every person who has taken part in Beat the Street.
“The numbers are truly staggering – not only did Wolverhampton collectively complete 196,395 miles, but we also saw a total of 27,727 people took part, swiping Beat Boxes an incredible 820,821 times. The most popular box, on Dudley Street in the city centre, was swiped more than 14,000 times alone. We also had more than 100 teams playing along, including 78 schools.”
The 196,395 will now be added to the ongoing Million Miles for Wolverhampton Challenge, which calls on the city to collectively walk, cycle or run a million miles. People are encouraged to add any miles they complete to an online totalliser available at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/wecantw8.
Ros – who with fellow council representatives Andy Jervis, Paul Sweet, Paul Tabor, Steve Poole, Martha Cummings and Liz Lister toured Wolverhampton on Sunday (10 April) to tap every Beat Box — added: “It’s fair to say the competition has been the talk of the city for the past few weeks.
“We’ve heard from many people who are sad it is now over. I’d urge everyone who has enjoyed playing along to please keep up the good work and continue to build on the great improvements they will have made to their health by taking part in our continuing Million Miles for Wolverhampton Challenge.”
For more information about the Million Miles for Wolverhampton Challenge, please visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/wecantw8.
