Making Life Better Together

Be active Belfast and Beat the Street

Northern Ireland to be transformed into real-life walking and cycling game

Tens of thousands of residents are expected to take part in Beat the Street – a hugely successful community-health initiative which has helped hundreds of thousands of people in towns and cities across the UK to become more active. The project in Northern Ireland is being funded by the National Charity partnership – a partnership between Diabetes UK, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Tesco.

Belfast – challenge yourself and those you know to be active

Launching on 14 September 2016, Beat the Street will see large parts of Northern Ireland including Belfast, Lisburn, Dunmurry, Newtownabbey, Whiteabbey and Holywood turned into a real-life game, where residents will be challenged to walk, cycle or run the equivalent distance of going to outer space. It is expected that more than 40,000 residents will get involved in the ‘race to space’.

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The game kicks off with players able to pick up cards at their nearest leisure centre, GP surgery or library two weeks before the game begins. To participate, players log their distance travelled by tapping cards at the start and end of each journey against Beat Boxes (digital sensors), placed on lampposts across the area. These collect and upload real-time travel data from registered cards onto the Beat the Street website. Prizes will be given to the schools, community groups and businesses who travelled the furthest distance. Players visit the website and social media to register and to get these updates. It’s interactive, virtual and live, 24 hours a day.

For more information about Beat the Street visit @BTS_NI on Twitter and Beat the Street Northern Ireland on Facebook. To find out more about the National Charity Partnership’s work in the community visit www.lets-dothis.org.uk



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