People in Chesterfield are now more active after Beat the Street game

Adults and children have become more physically active since taking part in a popular street game in Chesterfield, a new report has revealed.
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More than 13,820 people took part in Beat The Street, together walking, cycling, scooting, running and wheeling 143,000 miles.

Participants were surveyed at the start of the game and immediately after to see if their activity habits had changed, taking lockdown into consideration.

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Prior to participating in Beat the Street, 26% of adult respondents in Chesterfield were physically inactive – that is, they did less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week and 22% of children were less active (less than 30 minutes of physical activity every day).

Beat The Street campaign has been hailed a big success.Beat The Street campaign has been hailed a big success.
Beat The Street campaign has been hailed a big success.

Key findings from the report by Intelligent Health, the company that delivered the game, include:

*After Beat the Street, there was a 6% decrease in adult inactivity;

*10% increase in adults meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s physical activity guidelines;

*4% increase in cycling;

*18% increase in children becoming active.

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Many players reported that Beat the Street had encouraged them to walk or cycle more often, visit new places and spend more time with their friends and family.

The game, which was due to run for six weeks, had to finish more than a fortnight early due to lockdown. The report found that there was a significant increase in feelings of anxiety, caused by Covid-19 and lockdown measures.

Councillor Jill Mannion-Brunt, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “The response to Beat the Street was great, our communities got behind this initiative and I enjoyed getting out and about and meeting lots of new people who were taking this opportunity to get more active.

“It is a shame that the game was interrupted by the coronavirus crisis but I think we will see more people walking and cycling around the borough as we move into the recovery phase and this is great for both the environment and the health of our residents.”

Beat the Street was funded by a National Lottery grant through Sport England and Chesterfield Health and Wellbeing Partnership.