Beat the Street: European partners observe Colchester's 'giant game'

Colchester has been turned into a giant game as part of Beat the Street, a programme that transforms neighbourhoods into thriving, active places through movement and connection.

People of all ages are invited to ditch the car and walk, cycle or scoot to encourage mass activity and engagement, at scale.

The programme is taking place from March 11 to April 22, with organisations from Belgium, The Netherlands, France and Estonia attended to experience the programme on March 19. The European visit is part of an Erasmus+ funded project called Wise Move, which looks to drive long-term improvements in physical activity levels across Europe, with learnings taken from the success of Beat the Street programmes in the UK.

PARTICIPATION

Beat the Street has been played by more than two million people in 200 areas across the UK. Data shows that, typically, 13% of the population of an area takes part and, after playing, children sat an average of 35 minutes less a day, while for adults, it was down by 29 minutes.

Beat the Street is a mass participation event where the participants are the residents. In 2025, 110,949 adults and children took part. Of the players, 35% were from the most deprived 20% areas and 57% were from the most deprived 40% of areas. In the same programmes, the rate of inactive adults decreased by 7.32 percentage points and the rate of less active children decreased by 4.36 percentage points.

The programme in Colchester only started this month and, already, more than 12,000 people have signed up and covered almost 25,000 miles.

This year, it will be played in several places including Colchester, Bloxwich, Hendon and Grangetown, Houghton Regis, Penzance and St Austell. There are also plans for programmes to be on mainland Europe in 2026 and beyond.

“We’re delighted that Beat the Street is returning to Colchester and we’re looking forward to seeing it transform into a thriving, active place through movement and connection,” said Dr William Bird MBE, CEO of Intelligent Health.

HEALTHY

“Our mission is to build as many healthy communities as possible so having partners from across Europe witness it is both exciting and vital.

“Health is all about making connections between people and place and that’s what we do, both in the UK and beyond.”

Cllr Jocelyn Law, Portfolio Holder for Communities and Public Protection at Colchester City Council, said: “Beat the Street is a fantastic way to bring our community together through physical activity.

“It supports our ambition for a more active Colchester and helps strengthen connection, trust and belonging across our city. We’re delighted to welcome the programme back – especially as partners from across Europe will be here to see firsthand the positive impact it has on residents of all ages.”

“It’s very exciting to see Beat the Street on location,” said Jens De Rycke, from Sport Flanders and also the Wise Move Project Lead. “I’m keen to see what benefits the programme brings to Colchester and then replicate them in Belgium to boost activity levels in our communities.”