Local residents, businesses, community groups and schools came together to celebrate Sudbury and Great Cornard travelling 52,000 miles for Beat the Street. Over six weeks, Beat the Street has transformed Sudbury and Great Cornard into a giant walking, running and cycling game – residents travelling around the area tapping (…)special Beat Boxes on lampposts has become a familiar sight in Sudbury and Great Cornard.
More than 4,000 residents took part in the community health competition and travelled 52,671 miles. Local schools and organisations created teams and competed against each other to see who could travel the furthest to win some fantastic prizes.
At a celebration event at Kingfisher Leisure Centre on Wednesday 9 November, representatives from the winning teams picked up their prizes and celebrated the end of the six-week game.
The winning team was St Gregory’s CEVC Primary School who received £500 worth of Decathlon vouchers for travelling over 9,000 miles – almost two hundred times the length of the River Stour.
Meanwhile, Wells Hall Primary School and Pot Kiln Primary School came in second and third place and received £250 and £100 worth of Decathlon vouchers respectively. New Life Church Community topped the highest average points per player leaderboard while Tri Sudbury came in second, and Tot Rock at Cornard Library in third place.
Residents of Banham Drive also picked up £250 cash as one of the top community groups. Banham Drive is a community of retirement bungalows in Sudbury who have been taking part in Beat the Street together as a team. More than 90% of residents are aged over seventy with many team members only able to walk to one box at the end of the drive. Despite these challenges, the residents of Banham Drive managed to walk more than 1,500 miles together.
Kerry Butcher, team leader and resident, said: “Beat the Street came at the right time for some members who have had illnesses or operations recently who used Beat the Street as an incentive to slowly get mobile again.”
“What is most remarkable about our team is those members who could only manage to walk to the Beat Box at the end of the drive, and so were not in it for points, but still involved and taking part.”
Beat the Street Sudbury and Great Cornard is an initiative run by Intelligent Health in partnership with Suffolk County Council. Taking place during Suffolk’s Year of Walking, Beat the Street is designed to inspire whole communities to get moving.
Cllr Tony Goldson, Cabinet Member for Health at Suffolk County Council said: “Congratulations to each and every person who has taken part in Beat the Street.
“The competition has been very much the talk of the town for the past few weeks and we’ve heard from many people who say they will miss the Beat Boxes. However, if you’ve enjoyed Beat the Street, please keep up the great work and continue to build on the great foundations that you’ve made for your health. We hope you’ve enjoyed it!”
If you would like to contact us to find out more and to give us your feedback on what you would like to see in the future then please contact Jane Hatton on 01787 468634 or email jane.hatton@intelligenthealth.co.uk.
