Thinking of holding your child’s birthday party (or any gathering) in Rowntree Park? Here is some more information on parties we offer or hiring a space to run your own party/gathering.
We love seeing the park used by the community for parties and gatherings, the information below explains a little more about how you can use/book areas of the park for your party/gathering.
We offer Forest School Parties
Our Forest School Leader offers some party packages. If you’d like to find out more drop Christine a message at education@rowntreepark.org.uk
Running your own party
You can hire a specific space for a party/gathering – this will mean that we don’t book out the space to another group on the same day/time. We ask for a donation of £30 that covers admin time and then the rest goes back into the work our volunteers do in helping maintain and improve the park. Specific areas people tend to book include the two railed gardens and woodland story circle – these are areas that our charity care for and fund all planting and benches here (see map below).
If you have someone hosting your party (an entertainer/business) then it’s essential the event is booked with us as we have to check public liability insurance and get risk assessments.
For larger gatherings or more complex requirements, the booking donation may increase due to any additional admin involved.
If you have booked a space – as it’s a public park, we recommend you put signs on the gates to state what is happening (and have permission from us). You cannot stop members of the public entering – but most won’t if it’s clear what is happening.
We do ask that you be mindful of other park users and clear up after yourselves – this includes removing rubbish from the park, especially at weekends as the council don’t empty bins then.
There are no BBQs or fires allowed in the park, other than by our approved people with all the right insurance and safety checks.
No gazebos or structures are permitted for private parties unless the relevant insurance is in place (please get in touch to chat more on this).
In special circumstances small inflatables are allowed but only if the company can provide all the documentation we would request including: Public Liability Insurance, Method Statement and clear information on how getting it in and out of the park. There will be additional costs for the admin time to do all the relevant checks needed.
Please note:
Anyone can hold a gathering in Rowntree Park and there is no need to book UNLESS you want to guarantee a specific area has no event on that day and/or you are using an entertainer or similar. Only booked events can have ‘structures’ with the relevant checks done.
Rowntree Park – useful information
The City of York Council manages Rowntree Park. Due to budget cuts over recent years what they do in the park has decreased greatly. There are no permanent staff on site and hasn’t been since the last Park Keeper was made redundant in 2017. The council will do ‘basic’ maintenance in the park. It is the Friends of Rowntree Park charity who fund and do any planting and raising money to improve the park – we have 7 areas we fund and care for specifically. Our volunteers garden, litter pick, run events and projects and more. We run an extensive volunteer programme and are focusing on connecting people with nature, helping improve mental health and wellbeing, and education programmes. Basically the FRP wants the park to be a safe and lovely place for the community. We feel parks should be free and accessible to all.
We have run an extensive programme of children’s events for a number of years. We have pre school groups, Forest School, work with local schools, wellbeing activities and we also run adult nature craft sessions.
Please note – the cafe in Rowntree Park is run by York Explore Libraries and is not linked to the Friends of Rowntree Park. The Tennis Courts are also not linked to the Friends of Rowntree Park – they are run by the tennis club.
Summary of steps:
- Please send information on what you’d like to do, the date and times and what area of the park you’d like to use. See map below.
- Once we know more we will send a booking form and then request payment, (and insurance and risk assessments where relevant).
- Let us know what help you may need or require – and if you have any questions!
Running an event or activity in Rowntree Park
If running an event in Rowntree park there are charges dependent size, nature and type of event/activity. Please get in touch for details.