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The charity making life better by water

Beat the Street

Beat The Street is coming to another West Midlands location soon.

Beat the Street

What is Beat the Street?

Using a Beat the Street card and map, travel by foot, bike, scooter or roller blades to one of 250 contactless Beat Boxes and aim to rack up as many visits and miles covered between the Beat Boxes as you can.

Beat Boxes are special sensors that record journeys once the game is underway. More than 250 of these will appear on lampposts around the area. These sensors are contactless so you don't need to touch them – simply hover the card over the Beat Box and it will beep and flash to record points. The first visit to a Beat Box registers the journey; then you can walk, cycle, or roll to the next Beat Box within an hour to score 10 points.

Who can play?

Everyone! Beat the Street is available to anyone of any age who would like to take part.

Family and friends walking along the towpath

What's in it for me?

Beat the Street is designed to get you moving by helping make small changes to your routine, such as walking or cycling to school or work instead of taking the car.

Beat the Street not only has a significant impact on increasing low levels of physical activity amongst adults and children, but also helps reduce congestion, improves air quality, and helps families spend time in green spaces together.

Beat the Street in the West Midlands

Over 25,500 people took part in Beat The Street Dudley, in July and August 2022, and travelled over 100,000 miles.

In September and October 2022, Beat The Street Birmingham engaged with over 3,500 participants travelling over 5,500 miles. Look out for Beat The Street happening in Walsall.

Ian Lane, lead for Commonwealth Games Legacy said: "We're really pleased to have worked in partnership to bring this activity to our waterways.

"'Beat the Street' is a wonderful opportunity for us, especially in a region where most people live within one mile of their local canal but have not yet realised it is there and its potential.

"We know that life is better by water, and by taking part it's a great opportunity to explore, get active and experience how being by water can make a real difference to people's mental health."

Last Edited: 18 September 2023

photo of a location on the canals
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