A BOY who only learned to cycle last year has been getting into the spirit of a huge game encouraging people to get out and be more active.

The “Beat the Street” event, which has been running in Stockton, is due to end this week.

The game aims to get people out and about by foot and bicycle, getting them to check-in at “beat boxes” across the area – with prizes available for those who cover the most ground.

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Joshua Lee, seven, who is playing for Roseberry Primary School in Billingham, managed to visit every single check-in box on his bike – which he learned to ride last August.

He said: “I wanted to do beat the street to get loads of points for my school. I wanted to get them all as I love a challenge. My sister Ellie who is 5 helped sometimes when we walked. When I went on my bike I went with mammy.

“The picture is me finding the last box out of 170.I only learnt to ride my bike in August last year so I am enjoying going on an adventure. I enjoyed riding down past the river and cycling past A&E.

“I am so proud of how far I have travelled on my bike. My next challenge is climbing Roseberry topping again I hope mammy is up for the challenge.”

The Stockton game comes to an end at 7pm on Wednesday, April 13.

Nearly 19,000 people have signed up and have together walked, cycled, wheeled, run and scooted a combined total of 179,000 miles.

Engagement coordinator Duane Newton said: “It has been great to see everyone getting active as a community. We’ve heard heart-warming stories of communities coming together, of people telling us how they’ve got chatting to others and of players getting to experience green spaces and parts of the town they might not have known about before. 

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“The Beat the Street game itself is just the start though – when the game comes to an end, we’ll then continue to work with the local community to ensure that these healthy lifestyle habits are put into action and players are signposted to activities and community groups that they might not be aware of.”

A separate Beat the Street game is taking place across Redcar and Cleveland also concludes on Wednesday 13th April; currently 16,032 people have walked, cycled and wheeled 127,000 miles

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