A Celebration of Confidence, Creativity & Community

Over two June weekends, the parks of York were transformed into joyful, buzzing spaces of creativity, energy, and empowerment as the Make Space for Girls Festival 2025 brought together hundreds of girls and young women for an unforgettable celebration of movement, expression and connection.

From Rowntree Park to Homestead Park, older girls a took part in over 40 free activities and workshops, from the bold to the beautiful, the high-energy to the hands-on – all designed to reclaim public spaces for girls and make them feel truly welcome.

A festival for every girl

The range of activities was as diverse and inspiring as the girls themselves. Drop-in and pre-booked sessions included:
Musical theatre, drama and dance.
Football, basketball, cheerleading, tennis, orienteering and yoga
Art, printing, pottery, nature crafts, jewellery making, photography and needle felting
Whittling, wood carving, woodland crafts and nature walks
Tote bag design, badge making, placard painting Empowering flags and zine-making exploring girls’ rights and futures

With additional activities like tap dancing and a ceilidh, the festival offered something for everyone – including special sessions that welcomed women too, helping build intergenerational community and solidarity in shared spaces.

More than just activities

This year’s festival wasn’t just about fun – though there was plenty of that! It was also about sparking conversations and sharing experiences. Girls were invited to imagine and design what welcoming, inclusive public spaces might look like with the help of design collective Meeting Place. Through crafts and co-creation, they explored what they want from their parks, communities and futures.

Alongside this, vital conversations were facilitated by pop-up awareness stalls, including- Bolshee and The Dance Floor Project, tackling the need for safer public spaces for women, and also St John’s University’s ‘All About Respect’ campaign, encouraging open dialogue around healthy relationships and preventing violence against women. These elements embedded the festival in a wider mission to build a culture of respect, inclusion and safety for girls in our public spaces.

“We want to create a space where girls can feel safe, confident, and empowered to be themselves,” said Abigail Gaines, founder of Make Space York and director of The Tiny Roar CIC. “Every girl deserves access to public spaces and the opportunities they offer.”

A real sense of belonging

What made the festival truly special was the feedback from girls, parents and carers, who described how powerful the experience had been:

 “Lovely idea! My daughter really enjoyed her workshops and the sense of community. Thank you!”

 “This is a wonderful event in our area to give an opportunity to girls to explore the park and spend time with their friends in a safe place.”

 “My daughter is 12 and she has speech and learning disabilities. This is the second year she was able to take part in the festival. As a parent, it’s so wonderful to see that everyone is welcome and she felt at ease that she was able to take part in most of the activities. All professionals considered her additional needs and made her feel very included. A massive thank you!”

These stories echo a common theme: confidence, ownership, joy and community. Girls left the festival having discovered new passions, formed new friendships and most importantly, seen themselves as rightful users of their parks and public spaces.

The project behind the festival

The festival is part of the wider Make Space for Girls in York Parks project, led locally by Abigail Gaines and supported by the Friends of Rowntree Park, The Mount School, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the York Children’s Trust.

Although the project is organised entirely by Abigail Gaines, the festival wouldn’t have been possible without the support of volunteers who helped across the weekends and the many talented facilitators and practitioners who ran workshops and sessions. Their enthusiasm and commitment to creating inclusive, inspiring experiences played a huge part in the festival’s success.

Since 2022, the project has worked with teenage girls to co-create spaces designed by them and for them – including a brand-new space in Rowntree Park that opened in May 2025. It’s about more than a weekend: it’s an ongoing mission to reimagine our public spaces through girls’ eyes – and to shift the culture so girls feel welcome, respected and inspired every time they step outside.

What’s next?

You can follow the project on Instagram @makespaceyork to see photos from the festival and hear directly from the girls involved.

Stay tuned for more events and opportunities – and thank you to every single person who joined in June.

Whether you joined in with the dancing, picked up a whittling knife for the first time, waved a flag, shared your story, or simply stood back and made space – you helped create something truly powerful. Together, we’re not just changing parks.
We’re making space for girls – and for a better, fairer future.

From buzzing bees to fluttering butterflies, pollinators are the unsung heroes of Rowntree Park. Discover more on a fun and engaging trail presented by the Friends of Rowntree Park.

The trail is suitable for all ages, the trail features the work of local artist Emma Feneley alongside information.

Trail leaflets can be collected from the York Explore cafe in Rowntree Park for just £1.25 – please leave cash in the tin or scan the QR code by the leaflets to pay online.

Our volunteer gardeners look after several areas of the park (see the map below) and they plant for flood resilience and to help biodiversity. A range of pollinators are spotted in Rowntree Park, and you can see some of the finds, and record your own, using INaturalist App. By doing so you help us build up a clearer picture of the types of pollinators found in the park and where.

The photographs below shows some of the pollinators spotted in the park over the last couple of years.

Please considering supporting the work of our volunteers by becoming a member of the Friends of Rowntree Park from as little as £10 a year – it means a lot and only takes 2 minutes to join online:

If you’d like to do a one off donation to help the work of our charity – you can choose your amount using the button below:

Emma’s original art collages of pollinators will be in display in the York Explore Cafe and are available to buy. Contact Emma if interested in a specific piece – emmafeneley@gmail.com

We are looking for someone to join our team and lead some weekend/evening wildlife area volunteer sessions:

Job Title: Wildlife Area Volunteer Lead (Freelance)
Location: Rowntree Park, York
Hourly Rate: £14.50 per hour
Approximate Monthly Hours: 7 hours (2-hour sessions held fortnightly, plus planning and prep time)
Total: £1218 for around 12 months (tbd how time is used)

Who we Are:
The Friends of Rowntree Park is a community-focused charity dedicated to enhancing and maintaining Rowntree Park in York. While the park is managed by the City of York Council, our charity plays an integral role in ensuring its continued care through volunteer-driven initiatives. We promote physical, mental, and social wellbeing through a wide range of activities such as gardening, conservation, and community events. We are currently expanding our volunteer base and are seeking a Wildlife Area Volunteer Lead to help us manage and grow our wildlife conservation project.

Role Overview:
We are looking for a passionate, nature-loving individual to lead volunteer sessions at our Wildlife Area. This role involves overseeing tasks and activities focused on enhancing the biodiversity and natural habitat of the park. The ideal candidate will have an interest in nature, gardening, and conservation, along with experience or a willingness to lead a group of volunteers. The role requires someone good at managing people and projects, a good understanding of health and safety practices, as well as some basic knowledge of gardening and biodiversity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead Volunteer Sessions: Organise and lead approximately 2-hour sessions running fortnightly in the Wildlife Area, with some flexibility depending on the season etc. This would usually be at weekends with some ocassional week evening sessions (some flexibility).
• Project Planning: Continue to plan and develop the ongoing wildlife conservation project, including the management of the hedge, pond and bog garden, orchard, meadow grasses, wildflower meadow, and other habitats.
• Task Management: Supervise and support volunteers during sessions, ensuring tasks are carried out effectively and safely.
• Health and Safety: Ensure all health and safety guidelines are followed during volunteer sessions.
• Team Coordination: Help build and maintain a strong, engaged team of volunteers, providing direction and motivation.
• Preparation and Reporting: Plan, prepare, and review activities in advance of each session, and report on progress to the relevant  Friends of Rowntree Park leads.
  
  Skills and experience:

• Strong interest in nature conservation, gardening, and biodiversity.
• Previous experience in leading or supervising groups, especially volunteers is useful.
• Basic knowledge of gardening and wildlife-friendly practices.
• Understanding of health and safety requirements for outdoor volunteer activities.
• Ability to motivate and inspire volunteers to achieve project goals.
• Good communication and organisational skills.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of local flora and fauna, particularly in relation to wildlife areas and habitat restoration.
• Experience in project management and volunteer coordination.

Additional Information:

• The Wildlife Area is located at the back of the recreation field near the Butcher Terrace/Millennium Gates of Rowntree Park, York.
• The role is freelance, with an approximate commitment of 7 hours per month.

If you are passionate about nature and wildlife conservation and enjoy working with a team of volunteers, we would love to hear from you!

How to Apply:
Please send your CV and a brief cover letter, no longer than 2 sides of A4 explaining why you are interested in this role and your relevant experience to Abigail Gaines, Charity Manager, – hello@rowntreepark.org.uk

Deadline 24th March 2024

Get involved in a new exhibition exploring teenage girls’ experiences of parks (and public spaces).

Park design, including facilities, can affect women and girls’ use of public spaces – it can either enhance or limit the freedom these spaces should provide.  Similarly how other people see and use spaces can impact on whether girls feel welcome (including feeling safe).  Through creative responses we can share experiences, ideas and start to imagine solutions on how these spaces could be transformed to become more inclusive

Research shows girls’ presence in parks declines sharply in teenage years, compared to boys, and patterns set in these years can affect later life.  Use of parks can benefit physical and mental health and wellbeing – so creating welcoming inclusive parks is important. 

The new exhibition is part of the ongoing Make Space York project and invites people to help raise awareness and share lived experiences in creative ways to engage the audience and invite them to question the status quo.

Opportunities for teenage girls to get involved:

Creative submissions for the exhibition are open to all ages from age 11 upwards and more information can be found here.

In addition, we have two workshop sessions in February half term where girls can get involved and contribute toward the exhibition.

Art workshop: Chains 

Thursday 20th February 2-4pm
York Explore Cafe – Rowntree Park
Book places in advance – free to attend

Join illustrator Lucy Monkman for an art workshop creating self portraits that will be used in a collective piece.

While metal chains have traditionally been used to restrain,  paper chains have been used to celebrate. For Illustrator Lucy Monkman chains seemed to be a fitting symbol for the Make Space campaign as they represent the feeling of being limited but also that collective action and joining together can create change.  

The session will include drawing representation of themselves on paper, a self portrait,that will be joined together to contribute to a chain.

The session is free to attend but places must be booked in advance due to limited space. Book here.

Photography session: Life through a Lens

Friday 21st February (select time between 1-4pm)
Rowntree Park
Register in advance – free to attend.

Photographic portraits of teenage girls in parks will be part of our upcoming exhibition. We are inviting teenage girls to have their photo taken by professional photographer Bec Hudson-Smith.  A photographic portrait of each girl will be created and they will have the opportunity to answer some questions linked to parks and their experiences. The aim is for the image and words to go alongside each other as part of the exhibition. 

Although some teenage girls may not be initially keen on the idea of having their photograph taken – the images will help convey a powerful message and share their thoughts and feelings, it will help their voices be heard. 

The session will run between 1-4pm in Rowntree Park, but only take around 15-20 minutes per girl.   If your child is interested in being involved on this date (or in the future) – please complete this form to register interest.

If you can’t attend the workshop but want to contribute to the chain – details will be shared via the Make Space York mailing list  on how you can do this.