Beat the Street returns to Swindon next week and residents can now pick up their cards ready to join in the fun when the game launches.

The initiative, which is running for the second year running in Swindon, encourages people to get active outdoors and explore their area by turning whole towns and cities into a giant game. Players tap cards and fobs against sensors called Beat Boxes while walking or cycling to earn points towards their team in a bid to win hundreds of pounds worth of prizes.

Last year’s event was a huge success with an unprecedented 32,000 local people taking part and walking and cycling a massive 313,000 miles in just six weeks, a record for any of the Beat the Street challenges so far.

This year’s challenge begins on Wednesday, 25 September and runs for six weeks. A launch event will be taking place on the day from 4pm – 6pm at GWR Park on Faringdon Road where there will fun activities and double points available on beat boxes.

The game is organised by Intelligent Health and is funded by the National Lottery through Sport England and Swindon Borough Council.

Primary school pupils will be provided with a fob while other players are invited to collect cards and a map for free from distribution points across Swindon, including selected supermarkets, libraries and leisure centres. A full list of distribution points can be found at www.beatthestreet.me/Swindon.

Players can choose to join a school or workplace team, set up their own community group or join one of the teams playing on the charity leaderboard for one of the Mayor’s chosen charities: Swindon and North Wiltshire Deaf Children’s Society or CALM (Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Movement).

Councillor Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults and Health, said: “Beat the Street is one week away so make sure you pick up a card and map so that you’re ready to start earning points for your chosen school or team straight away.

“We’ve already seen lots of excitement ahead of the game kicking off, with primary schools eager to travel even further than last year and lots of workplaces and community teams signing up to play. Beat the Street is a really fun way to get active and explore new areas of Swindon, so I’d really encourage people to get involved. Last year we were one of the top towns so let’s beat that this year and be the top town in the country.”

More information is available at www.beatthestreet.me/Swindon.