The winners of the recent Beat the Street Paisley have officially been presented with their prizes for their efforts during the six-week physical activity game.
The competition aimed to encourage local residents to get more active, and to switch the car for active travel where possible by rewarding teams that walked, cycled and wheeled the furthest. Together, the 9.454 people who took part clocked up a total of 81,330 miles.
Beat the Street is a free, interactive game that encourages people of all ages to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives by rewarding teams with points and prizes the further they travel. Beeping and flashing sensors called Beat Boxes were placed around the borough with participants invited to score points on journeys between them.
A special presentation took place at the Lagoon Leisure Centre where the winners received trophies, certificates and vouchers for books or sports equipment. Among the winners who attended were representatives from local businesses, charities and also community teams.
Councillor Michelle Campbell, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, who presented the awards and prizes, said: “The Beat the Street game really showed the best of Paisley and brought together the whole community. Residents, partners and stakeholders from groups and organisations around the area worked together to encourage people to get active and to encourage the community to adopt healthy lifestyle habits.
“Congratulations to all of the winners, including our nominated charity MND Scotland who received a donation of £500 thanks to the community’s efforts. Everyone who took part and has become more active, plus more mindful over car use as a result is a winner.”
Julie Macdonald, Head of Fundraising at the charity MND Scotland, added: “A huge thank you to the people of Paisley for making their time count and putting in the miles to support people across Scotland affected by MND. MND is a devastating disease, for which there are currently no effective treatments, but thanks to your amazing effort, we can continue to fund pioneering research which is taking us closer to a cure and provide essential support to everyone in Scotland whose life has been impacted by MND. Together, we will make time count!”
Beat the Street Paisley has been commissioned by Renfrewshire Council with support from Paths for All’s Smarter Choices, Smarter Places programme. It is being delivered by Intelligent Health.
Participants will soon receive a survey to measure the impact of the game.
All adult players who took part in the Beat the Street game are invited to join Renfrewshire Council’s Not Far? Leave the Car campaign, which rewards active travel with points that can be spent at local businesses or donated to charity.
Download the free BetterPoints app at www.leavethecar.betterpoints.uk to find out more and take part.