By turning daily journeys into an interactive game, our Beat The Street competition has had local people of all ages ditch their cars in favour of walking, cycling or scooting.
Pupils across 56 teams eagerly tapped lamppost sensors to earn points over a six-week period, even heading out at lunchtime to keep their school at the top of the leaderboard.
“We normally passed around 12 Beat Boxes on the way to school, and then again on the way back,” said Elia from St Thomas Canterbury primary school in Fulham. She competed alongside her parents and sister Alicia. “The game made us plan new routes and discover new places.”
She added: “We travelled to all Beat Boxes, even the ones all the way in the north of the borough. That day, we walked more than 40,000 steps!”
The H&F students competed against local residents and workers across 27 community and workplace groups. All in all, more than 13,200 players travelled an incredible joint distance of 95,160 miles – more than four times around the world.
School run, gamified
As well as boosting fitness, Beat The Street inspired players to explore new corners of the borough with their family and friends.
“I played on the weekend and my way to school, with my mum, my brother who’s four,” said Avonmore primary pupil Adriana (5). “I liked that the Beat Boxes made different sounds.”
“We loved to play along the Thames, the whole family played along,” added her mother, Erika. “There was a weekend where you would get double points, and just kept going up and down the riverside. It was really fun – I hope the game is going to make a return.”
With players’ progress tracked on several leaderboards, individuals and groups were in for a chance to win trophies, vouchers, as well as books for the winning school teams.
"We would walk an extra mile after school to get an extra 'gem' or Beat Box point," said Shepherds Bush resident Moonsang Seo, whose family played for St Stephen's primary school team. “On the weekends we bumped into loads of families, it really brought the community together.”
The 2024 winners and runners-up with the most total points were announced following the final day of the game on Wednesday 10 April. They included:
North schools
- Larmenier & Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Brook Green
- St Stephen's CofE Primary School, Shepherds Bush
- Brackenbury Primary, Hammersmith
South schools
- Fulham Bilingual, Fulham
- St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, Hammersmith
- Thomas's Academy, Fulham
White City based Our Lady of Fatima Church secured first place in the community and workplace category, while local cycling group HF Cycling came top in the category ‘Running and Cycling’.
Other groups collected prizes for securing the highest average points in their categories. See the full list of winners on the Beat The Street website.
Keep it going
Caught the active travel bug?
Local families can now save time, money and emissions on their school run with the help of pollution-busting grants offered by H&F Council.
Visit our Parcels Not Pollution webpage to apply for up to £2,000 towards purchasing or leasing a cargo bike.
