Harwich and Walton to become giant playgrounds for virtual game

Street Tag rewards physical activity in families, individuals and communities with points and prizes.

The family-friendly free mobile app sees participants earn points by collecting virtual tags scattered around each town - making physical activity into a fun game by converting walking, running, and cycling into Street Tag points.

Users can compete in teams or go it alone to top the leaderboard and win prizes.

Becky Dowling, from Community Voluntary Services Tendring, is running the event alongside Active Essex this year.

She said: “After an amazing Beat the Street game in Harwich last year we are hoping this virtual game to encourage physical activity will be just as successful.

“The idea is to get people active and exercising in any way they like – this could be walking or running, cycling or skipping.

“The game starts on June 15 - just download the app and start collecting tags.”

Tags can be found on school routes, in local parks and public spaces, and at local events making it easy to join in the fun and be in the race for prizes.

The app will automatically collect the tags within a 40m-radius and change the colour from red to yellow.

Points add up in real time on the school, workplace or community leaderboard.

After every 12 weeks, those earning the most points while collecting virtual tags will win prizes.

Cheryl Lomas, from Active Essex, said: “Street Tag is a great interactive game where you can earn points and get prizes for walking, running, cycling or rolling around your local area and beyond.

“All you need is the app to take part and start collecting points.”

There are many tags across Harwich and Walton waiting to be collected - and several more can be added in areas participants think need them.

For more information on Street Tag, which is being run with the help of Tendring Council and Harwich Town Council, visit streettag.co.uk and download the app from Google Play or the Apple App Store.