Beat the Street South Derbyshire tree winners dig deep!
Players in last year’s Beat the Street South Derbyshire competition have recently branched out after receiving their trees for participation in the walking, cycling and running game.
Beat the Street took place in Spring 2024 across Swadlincote - plus Walton-on-Trent, Rosliston, Netherseal, Ticknall, Melbourne, Church Broughton, Hatton, Hilton, Etwall, Micklemeadow, Stenson Fields, Eggington, Willington, Findern, Newton Solney, Repton, Barrow upon Trent, Weston-on-Trent, Aston-on-Trent and Shardlow.
The fun, free game invited people of all ages to get more physically active with the goal of winning prizes for their team. A total of 8,713 people of all ages from across South Derbyshire signed up and collectively travelled 64,274 active travel miles! Additionally, the game had a green incentive with school and community teams being offered the opportunity to plant a tree for every 5000 points clocked up.
After putting their best foot forward in the competition, the top school teams including Belmont Primary, Hilton Spencer, Pegasus School and Bladon House School have now put their green fingers to good use and planted trees in their school groups. Other winning schools including Fairmeadows Foundation Primary School who came top of the total points leaderboard, as well as representatives from community teams such as IM Plumbing & Heating, Cheeky Munkees, SDDC Councillors, 1st Gresley Guides and Fit 4 Life joined Chair of South Derbyshire District Council Sean Bambrick for the recent tree-planting event.
Councillor Gordon Rhind, Chair of Housing and Community Services Committee, said: “The Beat the Street South Derbyshire game really created a buzz across the area when it took place and you can still see the impact that the competition has had locally. We wanted to add a tree planting element to the game to encourage people to retain pride in their local green spaces. The Beat the Street game has a Go Wild themed week which highlights the importance of parks, waterways and green spaces on our physical health and mental wellbeing too. These trees will provide a long-lasting legacy and be a lovely reminder of the strength of a community coming together to achieve something positive.”
Beat the Street South Derbyshire has been commissioned by South Derbyshire District Council. It is funded by South Derbyshire District Council, National Forest Company, Active Derbyshire and the National Lottery via Sport England. It is being delivered by Intelligent Health.
Beat the Street was created by GP Dr William Bird MBE - a specialist in physical activity, to encourage people to explore their local areas and to make exercise fun, and it has been played by more than 1.8m people in 168 locations in the UK. As well as making a significant impact on increasing low levels of physical activity amongst adults and children, the game also helps reduce congestion, improves air quality, and helps families spend time in green spaces together.
29 January 2025