Get involved with initiative to win cuddly hedgehog toy

Running from June 6 to July 25, Beat the Street will see towns and villages turned into a massive game where players can earn points and prizes for themselves and their team by exploring their area on foot or by bicycle.

During this free, fun challenge, close to 500 sensors called Beat Boxes will appear on lampposts across East Sussex.

Players can pick up a Beat the Street card and map at their local library, leisure centre or selected pharmacies and start playing the game by swiping as many Beat Boxes as possible to earn points and win prizes.

Teams across the county will be competing against each other to see who can travel the furthest.

Players can create their own teams with their friends or colleagues, or register to join the existing team of a local school, community group or workplace to be in with a chance of winning hundreds of pounds worth of sport and fitness vouchers.

Last year, more than 42,000 people walked, ran and cycled an incredible 230,000 miles in seven weeks – the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

This year the organisers are promising that the game will be even bigger and better.

Beat the Street is funded by NHS Hastings and Rother CCG and East Sussex Public Health.

The initiative forms part of a comprehensive programme of activity to improve health through the Personal and Community Resilience workstream of East Sussex Better Together; and as part of Connecting 4 You in the west of the county.

Victoria Spencer-Hughes, consultant in Public Health, said: “We’re really excited to be bringing the Beat the Street competition back this summer.

“We were blown away by the popularity of the game last year.

“We’ve listened to people’s feedback and have expanded the game.”

• To celebrate the return of the game to East Sussex, we will be giving out cuddly Beattie the Hedgehog toys to 15 lucky players.

To take home your own Beattie, we want to see your photos of you playing Beat the Street with your friends, family, workmates or school.

Send your pictures to the Hastings Observer along with your Beat the Street card number and your photo could be chosen as one of the 15 winners across the county.

Be creative and send in your silliest, funniest, happiest or weirdest Beat the Street photo.

Remember you must register your card online at beatthestreet.me/eastsussex to be in with a chance of winning!

Make sure you have the permission of your parent or teacher to send in a photo if you’re playing under the age of 16.

The competition ends on July 1, 2018.

Email your photos to: [email protected] with your name, Beat the Street card number and daytime telephone number.

We will be choosing 15 winners to receive a cuddly Beattie – and printing the best photos in the paper.