Thinking of joining the challenge or have some questions?
Read on to find out more...
What is Changing Steps Cardiff?
Changing Steps is a free to join rewards programme for staff and students at Cardiff University, designed to help you get around more sustainably. It rewards sustainable travel for commuting and leisure trips to and from campus, and encourages regular walking, running, wheeling and cycling activity for health and wellbeing. The programme will run until 16 June 2023, with points earned and prizes awarded primarily during semester dates.
How has Changing Steps Cardiff been funded?
Changing Steps has been funded by Cardiff University.
Why should I take part?
BetterPoints is an award-winning app that encourages people to walk, run, wheel, cycle, or take the bus or train more, for commuting purposes or leisure. Taking part will allow you to earn rewards for travelling in more sustainable and environmentally friendly ways. You can spend your BetterPoints on campus, with high-street retailers or donate them to charity, including to support the University's biodiversity work. The secure and anonymised data your participation provides will also help Cardiff University to improve provision for active and sustainable transport, helping to make the University a better, safer and healthier campus for all to travel around.
How can I get involved?
Check out the Sign up to Changing Steps page, or in a nutshell:
Download the free BetterPoints app from the App Store or Google Play.
- Register on the app. You must use your @cardiff.ac.uk email address to be eligible.
- Join the Changing Steps Cardiff challenge.
- To manually record a journey, tap the ▶️ Play button at the start of your journey. Don’t forget to press stop when you’re finished.
- Or, track your activities automatically, by switching the automatic tracking function on - the app will then pick up when you’re on the move. You'll be asked to confirm these later in the day.
- Check your points balance and help your favourite cause via the Donations tab or treat yourself via the Rewards catalogue.
How can I earn points or win a prize?
You can earn points and win lots of fantastic prizes for travelling actively and sustainably. Check out all the rewards here.
What is the difference between BetterTickets and BetterPoints?
BetterPoints are a financially backed currency that you can earn by tracking eligible activities - over time they add up. Your points balance can be viewed from the ☰ menu in the top left-hand corner of the app. Once you’ve collected enough points you can redeem them for vouchers in the app catalogue or donate them to charity (1,000 BetterPoints are worth £1).
BetterTickets are prize draw entries earned for doing a specific activity. The tickets you earn automatically enter you into our prize draws. The more tickets you earn, the better chance you have of winning. Prizes can include pots of BetterPoints and specific things such as bike helmets.
What can I spend my points on?
You can spend them on campus or with local or national retailers listed on the app. Alternatively, you can donate your points to charity, including in support of the University's biodiversity work. 100% of all monies donated will be allocated to projects by the Ecosystem Resilience and Biodiversity Action Plan (ERBAP) Steering Committee, to help progress their plan for building ecosystem resilience and biodiversity across campus.
Can I take part if I use a wheelchair, and if so, how do I record my journeys?
Yes! All kinds of wheelchairs can be tracked as 'wheeling' in our app. You download the app as per the instructions above. If you select automatic tracking, the app will automatically track your journey. Due to the motion sensors inbuilt in your device, and our algorithms in the app, it may assume you are cycling, rather than wheeling. In your timeline, after completing your journey, you will be able to amend this to wheeling and your journey will be updated. You will be awarded the same amount of points/tickets as walking, running or cycling journeys.
I want to travel sustainably but I don't feel safe. Can the University help?
Cardiff University offer safety for students via the Safezone App which can be downloaded from safezoneapp.com. The app allows students to communicate with security officials at Cardiff University where students can send a location based alert if ever in need of an emergency response. If you aren't in a position where you're able to call, the app also allows students to communicate with security officers via text message.
Is my data being shared?
The sharing of any information is optional; data processing is operated by BetterPoints and is not controlled by Cardiff University. BetterPoints only share anonymised, aggregated data with the University and we never share your data with anyone else, except for prize draw winners. Contact information including name and email address may be shared with Cardiff University and partners of Changing Steps Cardiff in order to fulfil prizes.
Is the app and website accessible?
The Changing Steps Cardiff in-app programme and website have been developed by BetterPoints. As Changing Steps Cardiff is an application which contains third party content this means that some aspects of the application accessibility are outside of Cardiff University’s control.
Changing Steps Cardiff is partially compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, but improvements are needed. Cardiff University is committed to making the Changing Steps Cardiff programme as accessible as possible and are actively working to address these issues. The University is working with BetterPoints to improve accessibility in the new version of their app, which is currently in development.
Do you have any more questions?
If you have any further questions or encounter any issues with the app, tap the ☰ menu button in the top left-hand corner and then ‘Help’. Most queries can be answered here but, if not, you can contact BetterPoints by tapping the 💬 speech bubble in the top-right hand corner or by emailing: customercare@betterpoints.uk.
