IT'S time to stretch your legs and get out and about around Swindon to Beat the Street.

The town-wide activity encouraging friends, school classmates and fitness groups to walk and cycle more often returns today and will run all the way to October 27.

People wishing to take part can join a team in their school, community or workplace, or join one of the two charity teams. They have their own leaderboards, with a £350 prize for first place and £150 for second place.

More than 200 Beat Boxes are being installed in locations around the town which players will use to score points as they travel as far as possible on foot or by bike.

Players will need to hover their Beat the Street game cards over a Beat Box to start their journey, and can then score points for themselves and their team for each box they swipe in the following hour.

Primary school-aged children will receive a game pack through their school so they can join in the fun. The packs include a game card, wall chart and stickers as well as a set of fun challenges to try each week. Parents will receive game cards so they can play along, too.

Organisers have selected Mayor of Swindon Coun Garry Perkins’s two chosen charities for his year in office - Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home and The Harbour Project – to benefit from this year’s game.

Jessie May provides nursing care at home for children and young people with life-limiting conditions who are not expected to live beyond the age of 19.

The charity was established in September 1994 by Chris and Philippa Purrington after the death of their four-month-old daughter Jessica May. Since Jessie May was founded in 1996 the charity has supported more than 300 children and their families.

The Harbour Project helps families and individuals who are seeking asylum in Swindon, to help them to rebuild their lives by providing advice, support, practical help and friendship.

Since starting their work in 2000, with a focus on Kosovan refugees, The Harbour Project now works with people from more than 50 countries, providing daily English classes, weekly women’s and youth groups and a Steps2Work programme.

Beat the Street is delivered by Intelligent Health.through Swindon Borough Council working in partnership with Wiltshire and Swindon Sport and Swindon Healthy Schools.

It first came to Swindon in 2018 and returned in 2019 but had to take a year off in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last time, 5,978 participants clocked up 252,126.5 travel miles and during the original event, around 32,000 people covered 313,000 miles.

For more information, visit www.beatthestreet.me/swindon or follow @BTSSwindon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.