Beat the Street awards

Top players in the Beat the Street Clacton and Jaywick Sands game have been awarded with trophies, certificates, and prizes at an awards ceremony.
Community Voluntary Services Tendring(CVST), which ran the game, hosted the awards event on Thursday at its headquarters in Imperial House, Rosemary Road, Clacton.
CVST chair Brenda Ellis welcomed guests before Tendring District Council Chairman Peter Harris handed out the awards to groups, charities, schools and individuals who topped the leaderboard of the six-week game.
Brenda Ellis BEM said: “I’m just so proud of the residents of Tendring who have taken part in Beat the Street.
“People from across the board, old people and young people, have taken part and enjoyed getting active and exploring this amazing community.”
Cllr Harris said he was honoured to present the awards.
He added: “This was a fantastic project, which has involved all different parts of the community and all ages.
“CVST should be congratulated on how it has brought the community together.”
Winners at the awards included Essex Pedal Power, Inclusion Ventures, Holland Park Primary School, and the top of the individual leaderboard Andrew Hobson.
Andrew, 53, collected a staggering 70,030 – making him the top tapper in the UK this year.
He said: “This has been completely different to any of my other cycling.
“Before I was cycling alone, but in Beat the Street I was meeting people tapping the boxes and we got talking and now I’m helping someone else with their cycling.
“I’ve made friendships from this.”
Becky Dowling, CVST’s physical activity capacity building officer who ran the game, said: “It was a fantastic six weeks with so many people getting involved.
“Some really got into a competitive spirit and encouraged each other to get tapping resulting in some amazing point totals.
“The whole aim of Beat the Street is to get communities active, encourage people to explore their surroundings and improve their overall wellbeing – and all for free.
“So many players have told me how the game has helped them get out of their homes and exercising and in turn helped them make friends and feel better in themselves.
“The awards event was a lovely way to recognise the great effort people put in and reward them for really getting into the spirit of the game.”
Delivered by Intelligent Health and CVST, Beat the Street was funded by the Active Essex Local Delivery Pilot – a project testing ways to encourage residents to be more active and to improve health outcomes and reduce pressure on the NHS.
Sport England and Tendring District Council also supported the project.