Swindon Mayor’s two chosen charities will be among the winners when the popular walking, cycling and rolling game Beat the Street returns to Swindon from next week.
Beat the Street returns to the town from 15 September until 27 October, turning the town into a real-life giant interactive game with the aim of getting people active together. Participants can join a school, community or workplace team, or can join one of the two charity teams. These will their own designated leaderboard and can win £350 for first place and £150 for second place.
Organisers have selected Mayor of Swindon Councillor Garry Perkins’s two chosen charities for his year in office – Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home and The Harbour Project – to benefit from this year’s Beat the Street game.
Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home provides nursing care at home for children and young people with life-limiting conditions who are not expected to live beyond the age of 19. Jessie May was established in September 1994 by Chris and Philippa Purrington, following the death of their baby daughter Jessica May. She died from a genetic condition known as severe Spinal Muscular Atrophy when she was only four months old. Since Jessie May was founded in 1996 the charity has supported more than 300 children and their families.
The Harbour Project helps families and individuals who are seeking asylum in Swindon, to help them to rebuild their lives by providing advice, support, practical help and friendship. Since starting their work in 2000, with a focus on Kosovan refugees, The Harbour Project now works with people from more than 50 countries, providing daily English classes, weekly women’s and youth groups and a Steps2Work programme.
How to Play Beat the Street
More than 200 Beat Boxes are being installed in locations around the area which players will use to score points as they travel as far as possible on foot or by bike for the duration of the six-week game.
Players will simply need to hover their Beat the Street game cards over a Beat Box to start their journey, and can score points for themselves and their team for each Beat Box they swipe in the next hour.
Beat the Street is brought to you by Swindon Borough Council working in partnership with Wiltshire and Swindon Sport (WASP), and Swindon Healthy Schools. It is delivered by Intelligent Health.
Last time (2019), 25,979 people walked, cycled, wheeled and rolled 252,157 miles. In 2018, 31,000 people travelled 313,000 miles; so let’s see how far Swindon can go this time!
The game is free and open to anyone of any age.
For more information about where to collect your free Beat the Street card and how to play, visit www.beatthestreet.me/swindon or follow @BTSSwindon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
