Active Environments

Gamification

Making activity competitive

Gamification is the use of technology to turn walking, running, or cycling around a local community into a game. Active Essex has been working with Intelligent Health (creators of Beat the Street) and Street Tag to test this concept, and understand the range of outcomes that delivering these games can lead to.

In Essex, Sport England Local Delivery Pilot funding has enabled games to be tested in Basildon, Colchester and Tendring in a range of settings including communities, workplaces and care homes.

Who's it for?

Adults and Children in Essex

Prime Objective

to improve activity levels and improve wellbeing

Second Objective

to encourage community connection

Beat the Street is a six-week game where residents are encouraged to explore their local area by tapping cards and fobs against Beat Boxes distributed across their town. Players are rewarded with points, can create teams and earn prizes depending on how far they run, walk or cycle.

Street Tag uses virtual tags so teams can collect points on the app by moving into a location with a tag. Teams can be formed by schools, workplaces, families, and friendship groups, with a live leaderboard and rewards and prizes.

Take a look at the full Gamification Evaluation and Learning Report here

Gamification is another example of the Essex Local Delivery Pilot looking to ‘do things differently’. It has been positive to see how the approach has connected and engaged people of all ages and abilities, in an accessible, convenient, and importantly, fun way. We were pleased to see not only the impact that participation has had on individuals, but also the data that has been captured showing the collective reach of the project, with over 10,000 players participating, and the learning from this report is likely to be of interest to other places across the country.

Marie Hartley, Sport England Place Relationships Manager

1,750+

miles covered by participants

11,621

players have taken part since its introduction

572,567kg

of CO2 saved as a result of the games

A fantastic example of testing Street Tag, has been at Loganberry Lodge care home in Colchester. They used Street Tag’s move boxes to help get residents up-and-moving in the comfort of their own home. “MoveBoxes” were placed in specific locations within the care home, which residents then tagged with a lanyard, earning points, winning badges, and climbing the leaderboard. It’s a great example of showing how Gamification can be used no matter your age or ability.

The scheme has shown significant improvement with residents' mobility. Their spirits have been lifted and their determination to walk that little bit further each day has been inspiring. Seeing them actively engaging and participating through their own free will is so rewarding and satisfying to see – especially one resident who chose not to leave her room at all prior to the scheme being in place.

Care Home Wellbeing Lead

Key Learnings

It's important to take time to reflect and understand the learnings from work undertaken, in order to focus on ways to improve in the future.

Time

Allow sufficient time for planning.

Coordinator

Identify a local coordinator to lead the games.

Schools

Schools are key to making these games work.

Create a buzz

It is important to create a buzz around the games so more people take part.