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Beat the Street!
LIVERPOOL is set to play host to an
exciting 6 week game called:- 'Beat the Street' – a challenge that
encourages participants to walk, cycle and run as far as possible within their
local community in their own time.
The free challenge was launched at Anfield Road Primary School with staff and
pupils plus representatives from the local community, as well as children from
All Saint's Primary School.
Tracey Williams, assistant head at All Saints Catholic Primary School, added:-
"At All Saints we seek to promote health and exercise throughout key
stages. The children are enthusiastic and excited to be a part of the 'Beat the
Street' initiative and can't wait to start to use their fobs."
The game starts in the Liverpool North cluster on Wednesday, 18 May 2016 and takes
place until 29 June 2016 covering the wards of Anfield, Everton and Kirkdale. A
2nd competition within the Southern ˝ of the City will take place from 8
June 2016 to 20 July 2016.
'Beat the Street' will turn Liverpool into a real life game where residents are
challenged to form or join a team and see how far they can walk, cycle or run
within the timeframe. Participants will be able to log their journey by tapping
cards against special sensors called:- 'Beat Boxes', which will be found on
lampposts across the area.
The competition has been resourced through a partnership between Liverpool
City
Council, Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group and strategic stakeholders with
the aim of encouraging people to adopt a more active lifestyle and to continue
being more active beyond the end of the competition.
The game is part of Healthy
Liverpool; a 5 year programme to improve health locally. Helping people reap
the benefits of moving more is central to Healthy Liverpool. It is also part of
Liverpool's Physical Activity and Sport Strategy 2014 to 2021 which sets out the
vision for Liverpool to be the most active City in England by 2021.
There are 2 leader boards and fantastic prizes for the top 3 teams that travel
the furthest and also those teams that clock up the highest average points per
person.
There is also the chance to win weekly:-
'lucky tap' prizes just
for taking part. People of all ages can take part and players can win prizes for
themselves and their community team.Assistant Mayor Councillor Wendy Simon, said:-
"We're very excited about launching this fun initiative which will help local
people become more active and gain some real benefits. Doing any amount of
physical activity that gets you breathing a bit harder is beneficial, even
walking or wheeling for 10 minutes per day can help to make you feel good and
can help prevent a multitude of health conditions. The wellbeing benefits of the
programme are clear and previous Beat the Street competitions across the UK have
demonstrated that the scheme helps people get to know their areas better,
improves community cohesion and reduces congestion. All you need to do is to
register a Beat the Street card and put a pair of trainers on! Good luck
everyone taking part!"
Dr Maurice Smith is a GP, and a member of NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning
Group's Governing Body. He said:- "Being more active is the single most
effective way to improve our physical and mental health and, at the moment,
Liverpool is behind other parts of the country when it comes to being active.
Being active doesn't have to mean joining the gym or running a
˝ marathon. You can make a difference by building more
movement into your daily life; taking part in Beat the Street is a great place
to start moving more. Even small amounts of activity can make a huge difference
to how we feel and help prevent illnesses such as heart disease and cancer, as
well as easing the symptoms of long term conditions such as diabetes and lung
disease."
For more information about:- 'Beat the Street', go the challenge
website or search for:- 'Beat
the Street Liverpool North'
on Facebook. |
