Popular Beat the Street game coming to Pendle after Burnley success

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.

The game has been played by more than 1.8m people in 168 locations in the UK, including nearby Burnley in 2021, 2022 and 2023. During the latest incarnation of the Beat the Street Burnley competition, 12,364 people signed up and walked, cycled and wheeled their way to a total of 155,121 active travel miles.

Beat the Street Pendle takes place for six weeks from Wednesday, September 18th to Wednesday, October 30th. The game has been commissioned by Pendle Leisure Trust. It is funded by Canal and River Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, Pendle West Primary Care Network, Lancashire County Council, Pendle Council, Active Lancashire, and the National Lottery via Sport England. It is being delivered by Intelligent Health.

It's free to take part and open to anyone in the community of any age or ability. The aim is to encourage the community as a whole to move more and to make small lifestyle changes, such as walking or cycling to school or work every day. The competitive element of the game really helps people to get involved, go one step further and work together to walk, cycle, run and scoot for points.

Alison Goode, chief executive of Pendle Leisure Trust, said: “We cannot wait to bring Beat the Street to Pendle. It’s a fantastic, gripping game that really helps achieve positive results on getting people active, reducing congestion and improving community cohesion. It’s free to sign up, so please give it a go and have a go at walking, cycling or other forms of active travel. Let’s see if we can go further than Beat the Street Burnley players.”

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 – some participants report that it even helps with maths and map-reading.