Make Space for Girls Festival York June 2024

Our ‘Make Space for Girls’ Festival runs until the end of June. This is 5 weeks of free events and activities including sports, exercise, dance, performing arts, photography, arts and crafts, health and wellbeing and much more!

Below you can see some of the photos and read about the session s that have happened!
Please do share your photos and experiences of the events – contact abigail at hello@rowntreepark.org.uk

Have you heard our theme song? The awesome ‘Make Space for Girls’ song was kindly created for us by musician Holly Taymar – have a listen!

Week One

Week One saw: Empowerment BootCamp with VMS Personal Training, a Bath Bomb Workshop with LandSCrafts, Photograpy Session with Olivia Brabbs Photography, Tik Tok Dance with Sita, Tote Bag Printing with Crafty Fox Kids Club, Needle Felting a Toadstool with Felty and Fabulous, Pamper in the Park with Jeni from Temple Spa, Yoga & pebble painting with Avocado Events & Children’s Yoga York.

Week Two

Week Two saw:

Tennis, Musical Theatre, Folk Singing, nature writing session, Gyronkenisis, Sculpting session, ParkFit, Tik Tok Dance , EmpowerHer Theatre

PLUS:
We had a whole weekend of events at Homestead Park too including – Musical Theatre , Drama session, Street Dance, Orienteering, Cheer Leading, and a Whittling workshop.

Week Three saw:

Campfire Cooking, Street Dance, Orienteering, Yoga, Basketball, Jewellery Making, Campfire, Crafts & Chill, Positive Affirmation Painting, and Song Writing!

Week Four

Week Four saw:

Cartoon Me – art session, The Dancefloor Project, Cheerleading, Basketball, a Herbal remedy Workshop, Drawing in the park, York Canoe Race, The History of Girl Power Picnic, Botanical Art and the Wild Writers Club!

Week 5

The week included art sessions, basketball, and a print your own journal workshop, as well as a day at West bank Park where we had an information and activity stall plus Tik Tok Dance, Street Dance and Cheerleading!

If you attended events this year – please do complete the quick survey as your feedback means such a lot.

Survey

Art in the Park 2024 – Call out for artists!

Would you like to have your art work displayed in Rowntree Park this summer?

Our popular Art in the Park exhibition is back for 2024. We are looking for York based/related artists who’d like to submit work for this exhibition.

Artists are asked to register interest using the online form. There is more information on the project and technical info here.

Information for artists

Art in the Park has been incredibly well received by the local community and park users since it started in 2021. Artists have also feedback that they’ve loved being involved in the project. We had a range of styles and approaches including mix media, painting, textiles, printing and more! Artists involved over the last few years have included Adele Karmazyn, Leon François Dumont, Elliot Harrison, Emma Feneley, Trish Fletcher, Becki Harper and many more!

Art for 2024 should be based on the loose theme of ‘pollinators’ – which is more simple than it may initially sound! Through 2024 we are celebrating the work our gardening volunteers do in helping biodiversity in Rowntree Park, so we’d like the art in someways to reflect this – this may just be showcasing plants/trees/flowers in someway in your art, or perhaps insects that help pollinate. Art including ‘iconic’ images of the park are always popular, and it truth it would be hard for your art not to fir the theme in someway! More info in the information for artists.

The deadline for submissions of the final pieces is by 14th of June 2024. The work will be displayed in the centre from summer 2024 to spring 2025.

Information for artists

To register interest to submit for Art in the Park 2024 click here
By registering interest, it means we can send more information and remind you of deadlines – it doesn’t mean you are committed! Final pieces need to be submitted by the 15th of June and all info on how to submit will be sent on.

For more information – contact abigail at hello@rowntreepark.org.uk

Read all about 2023 ‘art in the park’ in the Press here.

Rowntree Park Scarecrow Trail 2024

Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th May 2024

Our scarecrow trail is a popular and well-loved community event, join in the fun over the weekend of Saturday11th and Sunday 12th of May! The trail is both in Rowntree Park and takes you through local streets a fun quiz to do as you go!

Trail Sheets

You can pick up a trail sheet from our stall in Rowntree Park (below the cafe) between 10-4pm either day. You can also get trail sheets from some local shops and cafes including Lapin and Angel on the Green. Trail sheets are £2 and any profit goes back into buying plants for the park and the good work our volunteers so. Completed trail sheets to be returned to our stall by 4pm on Sunnday 12th for a chance of being entered for a prize draw.

To tie in with our focus on the ‘Pollinator Project‘ where we are highlighting the work our volunteer gardeners do in Rowntree Park to help biodiversity – therefore the scarecrows you will find are likely to be mini beasts of some description – think butterflies, bees, caterpillars. ladybirds and more! Bugs and beasties galore, on a bigger scale!

We can wait to see you all – we are buzzing!

Rowntree Park Flood Meeting – Tuesday 12th March 2023

All members/volunteers welcome to attend our meeting on Tuesday 12th March to discuss the issue of flooding and Rowntree Park. The meetings is at the York Explore Rowntree Park Reading cafe.

The park has been closed for nearly 3 months and this poses issues for the general park users, ourselves as a charity and other park stakeholders. The meeting is a chance to find out more on the issues the park faces, systems in place, what’s going wrong, and suggest ways to improve things…(more details below).

As the park is closed at 7pm, please contact abigail on hello@rowntreepark.org.uk if you’d like to attend as we need to tell you how to enter and know who we are expecting!

Meeting info:

  1. An overview of the (three) reasons the park closes.
  2. ⁠A brief (very) history of park flooding and increased frequency of flooding in recent decades.
  3. A review of the parks flood protection and pumping systems.
  4. A quick reflection on the condition of the flood wall including consequences of its failure.
  5. ⁠impacts of closures and flooding on FRP activity, income and spaces.
  6. ⁠impact of closures on local community, tennis club and Explore
  7. ⁠impact of flooding on park infrastructure, particularly the heritage features and listed structures.
  8. Discussion on engineering and management solutions to reduce impacts of flooding/minimise time water is in the park/keep park open.
  9. ⁠how can FRP help find and obtain funding to support cyc to make improvement.

Imagining Rowntree Park in 50 Years – Art competition

Calling young artists!

We are calling on young people aged 5-16 to submit a piece of art that imagines Rowntree Park in 50 years. This may focus on hopes or fears.

Ideas for your art

Be as creative as you like! Some prompts are below for anyone needing them, but don’t be constrained by these – there is no wrong!

Is the future promising?
-Perhaps the park is rewilded and nature is flourishing?
-Have there been new features and facilities added – things you’d like to see in the park?
-Is the park used in the same way or very differently?

Is the future bleak?
-Is the park underwater?
-Hope has climate change affected things?
-Has funding been fully cut and what has happened to facilities and features? 

Why submit?

This is a creative project that not only helps children connect with their local area and community, and offers an opportunity to display their thoughts and ideas in a creative way.  This is their park and their voices need to be heard.

A selection of the submissions will be displayed in the park (and/or York Explore cafe) and on social media and our website. There isn’t a ‘winner’ as such!

Submission Guidelines

-Deadline for submissions 30th May 2024
-Most art forms/media accepted though needs to be printable in case the work is displayed.

The art can be emailed to hello@rowntreepark.org.uk – photos are accepted. Please mention the size and scale of the piece and any other relevant details if the original is not best represented with a photo.

Make Space for Girls in York Park 2024

Parks need to be a place where older girls, and women, feel ‘welcome’ and are empowered them to be themselves.

The ‘Make Space for Girls’ in Rowntree Park focuses on reducing the drop off of park use as girls enter their teenage years. Parks have numerous benefits for physical and mental health and it’s so important that girls’, and women, are able to access and make the most of the opportunities parks offer.

Over the last couple of year our project has involved a range of engagement with local girls, and as a result our projects main focus is on:
Raising awareness of the need to design/improve parks with girls & women in mind
Fundraising for, and getting equipment to create an area girls have asked for
Running a range of events and activities for girls (and women)

To keep up to date with the project, you can sign up to our mailing list.

Sign up to the mailing list

To find out more about the whole project and what we’ve done so far – take a look here.

What’s coming up in 2024 for the ‘Make Space for Girls’ in Rowntree Park project?


The June programme of events

Through June there will be a free programme of events mainly aimed at girls 10-18 (with some events suitable for younger girls and some for women too). The events will include sports and exercise, nature and wellbeing, arts and crafts, music and theatre and much more! All the events are focused on getting girls to tree new things in the public space and meet likeminded individuals.


If you’d like to run an event as part of the programme, you can find out more and register interest below. A few of the events will take place in other York parks this year, as we start to expand the programme.

Our 2023 programme of events won ‘Best initiative to increase park use by women and girls’ from Greenflag Awards.

Thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund, Benenden Health and the Mount School for supporting the June 2024 programme.

Run an event


An area for older girls

We have managed to kick off our funding raising for a ‘play’ area older girls have requested, and the first Phase will be installed in spring 2024 and will include social seating and a communal swing. We need more money for Phase 2 and are looking for sponsors, grants or fundraising ideas to help make this a reality. Can you help? Get in touch!
A huge thank you to the Sweaty Betty Foundation, Whotwham Family TRust and the Micklegate Ward for funds towards phase 1.


Trailblazer Project

A group of 12 teen girls are involved in the Trailblazer’s Project. The project is part of a city wide trail of sculture that will go across York in the summer of 2024. Each sculpture represents a York trailblazer and our MSFG girls have also been working with York HerStory on our female trailblazer. The girls have researched a person and provided a brief for artists who then bid for the project. The girls have chosen an artist and will work with them over coming months to make the sculture a reality!

Our sculture will go near the new area we are creating for older girls in Rowntree Park as a representation of ‘space’ and looking at things differently…more will be revealed soon!



Building a project team

The Make Space for Girls in Rowntree Park project has been designed and led by Abigail Gaines, and it would be great to have a team of volunteers involved in the project. There is more info here about how you could get involved – take a look!

York International Women’s Week 2024

Project lead, Abigail Gaines, is a guest speaker for the Lady Mayoress ‘International Women’s Day’ event on March 8th at the Mansion House in York.

Make Space: Rethinking parks for girls and women – Wednesday 6th of March
This evening session is part of York International Women’s week. Join Abigail to talk through the current issues with parks with regard to design/use linked to women and girls, and we can rethink parks! Also a great opportunity to find out more about our girls project and get involved! Free to attend but book places here.

More info on the project as a whole:
Main project page: https://rowntreepark.org.uk/make-space-for-girls-older-girls-and-rowntree-park/
June 2023 summary of events blog – https://rowntreepark.org.uk/make-space-for-girls-june-programme-of-events-in-rowntree-park-celebration/

Rowntree Park Pollinator Project

Pollinators are the unsung heroes of our park. From buzzing bees to fluttering butterflies, these tiny creatures play a crucial role in pollinating plants, ensuring the reproduction of countless species and the continuation of life as we know it. However, the alarming decline in pollinator populations worldwide calls for urgent action to protect and preserve these essential insects. Our pollinator populations face unprecedented threats, and doing what we can to help safeguard their future becomes paramount to preserving the essence of Rowntree Park.

Although our volunteers work in improving biodiversity is ongoing, though 2024 we are raising awareness of our park pollinators and how we support them through our ‘Pollinator Project’.

Through the year we are:

1. Embracing Native Flora : Continuing to plant and care for native species, providing pollinators with essential food sources and habitats tailored to their needs.

2.Educate and Engage: Fostering a sense of stewardship among park visitors through educational programmes, community workshops, walks and talks, and the City Wide Nature Challenge (end of April) highlighting the importance of pollinators in Rowntree Park’s ecosystem.

3. Community Collaboration: Cultivating a spirit of community involvement by inviting residents to participate in pollinator-friendly initiatives, such as the ‘Pollinator Scarecrow Trail’, helping organise and run events (examples could be building bee homes, bug houses, seed bomb creation and anything that fits!)


Events/activities we have planned so far:

In addition to the ongoing work by our volunteer gardeners we also have:

Pollinator Trail – we are working with local artist Emma Feneley on creating a trail around the park to highhlight key pollinators for the early summer.

City Wide Nature Challenge – the last weekend in April saw us run a range of events and activities as part of York City Wide Nature Challenge events. People were encouraged to observe and record nature finds using the INaturalist App. This helps us built up a picture opf the range of biodiversity in the park, and we can compare this to future years. We also hosted events including a bat walk, pond dipping, nature walks, small mammal surveying and a Minibeast adventure!

Pollinator Scarecrow Trail – 11th and 12th of May. A fun trail through the park and surrounding streets. Pick up a trail sheet from our stall under the cafe 10-4pm either day (£2) and join the fun!

Why Are Pollinators Essential for Rowntree Park?

  1. Biodiversity Sanctuary: Rowntree Park serves as a sanctuary for diverse plant species, each intricately linked to pollinators for their survival. From vibrant wildflowers to majestic trees, the park’s ecosystem depends on the tireless work of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators to thrive.
  2. Eco-Friendly Haven: Embracing sustainable practices, Rowntree Park embodies an eco-friendly ethos that prioritises the well-being of its inhabitants. By nurturing pollinator populations, the park fosters a harmonious balance between humans and nature, enriching the community’s connection to the environment.
  3. Cultural Heritage: Steeped in history and tradition, Rowntree Park holds a special place in the hearts of York residents. Pollinators, with their timeless presence, contribute to the park’s cultural heritage, inspiring generations with their beauty and resilience.

As custodians of Rowntree Park’s natural legacy, it is our collective responsibility to ensure the preservation of pollinators for future generations to enjoy. Together, let us nurture the flourishing tapestry of life within our cherished park, where every bloom and buzz serves as a testament to the enduring beauty of nature.

York Trailblazers History Project

We are pleased to share we are involved in the York Trailblazers History project.

‘Unravelling the evolving nature of Rowntree Park’ explores the past of Rowntree Park, exploring its inception, development, and transformation over time -shedding light on the park’s cultural significance, its impact on the local community, and its role as a public space for leisure and recreation – the first municipal park in York.

Unravelling the evolving nature of Rowntree Park

Below are some of the events and activities we have planned:

19th March 7-8.30pm – History Talk: Landscape design & horticulture (book now)

9th April 7-8.30pm – History Talk: Changing leisure (book now)

25th April 1.30-3.30pm – Rowntree Park & Me – drop in session (more below)

27th April 10am -12pm – Rowntree Park & Me – drop in session (more below)

28th April 10-11.30am – Rowntree Park History Walking Tour (book)

Get involved:


Rowntree Park & Me

We want to know about ‘people of the park’, the lesser know stories that are valuable social history. Stories and memories from years ago and/or last year! We want to hear from those 8-80 (ish!)

Complete this questionnaire to share your memories and stories of Rowntree Park. Whether last year or years ago, no matter if you are 8 or 80 – we want to hear from you! Click here – it’s really quick!

The Rowntree Park & Me ‘drop in sessions’ will be at the York Explore Rowntree Park Cafe – come along and share memories with us – bring photos if you have them!
On the Saturday session (27th April), we encourage children to come along and draw a picture of their favourite memory in the park (or favourite thing).

Imagining Rowntree Park in 50 Years – Art Competition

Calling on children 5-16 – enter our art competition to reimagine Rowntree Park in 50 years. The deadline is 30th of April and all the information can be found here.

Above are some of the things included in our project. Keep an eye on our social media for up to date information on sessions and activities, and how you can get involved. See below for some information on how you get involved as a volunteer on the project.

More things coming including history display, history trail and a children’s history booklet!

Trailblazer Sculture Trail

There is a second part to the Trailblazers project that includes a city wide sculpture trail across the city in late spring/summer 2024.  We are involved in this with our ‘Make Space for Girls’ in Rowntree Park project and are collaborating with York HERStory.  We have a group of 12 girls who opted into the project and they have been researching a ‘trailblazer’ and are commissioning an artist to decorate the sculpture that will go in Rowntree Park.  The group have had a real leadership role in this project.   

Get involved with the Rowntree Park Trailblazer Project

Get involved:
-We need your photos and stories of the park over the years (including recent years)
-We need volunteers to help at community sessions and help collect and curate ‘memories’ of the park

If you’d like to get involved and/or find out more – drop project lead, Abigail, a line at hello@rowntreepark.org.uk


Trailblazers Project general information

Trailblazers is led by Make it York and York Civic Trust, with funding from the Lottery Heritage Grant. A range of York organisations are involved in projects that will help uncover lesser known heritage stories of Yorks past. Trailblazers is to inspire residents to discover and celebrate the heritage stories of people who are important to local communities. The projects include community workshops and programmes through 2024, plus a a large-sculpture trail around York in the spring/summer.
Find out more about the whole Trailblazers project:
http://makeityork.com/events/york-trailblazers/

Rowntree Park Lodge – Community venue plans

The Friends of Rowntree Park hosted a Public Consultation on Thursday 28th of September 2023 regarding our plans to create a community space in the former park keepers lodge above the York Explore cafe. The consultation was held in advance of submitting a planning application – which we aim to submit in Autumn 2023.

Please complete our quick online survey so we can get your feedback – here

The Public Consultation

The Exhibition that ran 11-7pm on Thursday 28th of September was very well attended with 150 people attending during the day and 55 attendees at the meeting 7-8.30pm. 

Those attending included York MP Rachael Maskell, Pete Kilbane (Deputy Leader of City of York Council), Katie Lomas (Councillor responsible for overseeing the project’s potential lease to the FRP) and Johnny Crawshaw (Chair of Planning Committee). There were two senior officers from CYC who again have responsibility for the Lodge building at present and the officer responsible for disability access. The CEO of Explore ( York’s Library Service) who run the Rowntree Park Reading Cafe attended along with Trustees and staff members from Explore. 

There was a great deal of positivity with constructive  comments from lots of local people. The plan is to apply for planning approval towards the end of October.

If planning approval is permitted later in the year then a full application will be made to the Community Ownership Fund (COF) for the maximum grant of £300,000 to pay for the development and towards revenue costs. The application was approved at stage 1 in March 2023 but the full application will be made in January 2024 with an estimated timeline for construction of 1 year to hopefully open in Spring 2025. 

Johnny Hayes who is the Lodge project manager announced during the meeting that. ” We applied for an addition “enabling grant” to the COF in August for an additional £10,000 to pay for  the cost of going to planning with our development. We heard just hours before the Exhibition that the COF had awarded FRP with the maximum £10,000. This bodes very well for our application and was excellent news to bring to this meeting.”  

Click here to see information from the display boards that were at the exhibition – including proposed architects plans.

This page will be updated in due course. Many thanks for your continued support for this project. You can read our previous blog setting out why we are doing the project and what it will achieve here.

We are also working with some members of Clements Hall Local History Group who are in the process of producing a new History of Rowntree Park. This will be launched prior to the Lodge opening in  winter 2025. 

Summer events & Activities as part of ‘Make Space for Girls’ in Rowntree Park

On the back of our highly successful June 2023 ‘Make Space for Girls’ in Rowntree Programme of free events and activities for older girls, we were offered funding from the local council ward to extend the programme through the summer holidays.

Through July and August, we hosted an additional 18 events including dance, art sessions, orienteering, photography, film making and Zine creation. Sessions were well attended, with over 100 individuals involved, and more ‘older girls’ than the June programme. It was great to have an increase in 14-16 year olds involved. It was clear the word about the project is spreading as so many girls could eloquently explain what we are trying to do and how it resonates with them.

The ‘Make Space for Girls’ in Rowntree Park programmes of events and activities in Rowntree Park are focused on making teenage girls feel welcome in the park, and trying to reduce/reverse the drop off of girls use of parks as they get older. The events focus on empowering teenage girls through the opportunity to share views on what makes a welcoming park, try new things and connect with likeminded people.

We are looking for continued funding to be able to continue with the overall project that has two key objectives at present:
-Getting new equipment requested by girls
-More events and activities aimed at girls & women
If you are interested in supporting our project, do get in touch!

Check out some of the highlights of the summer programme below:

Check out the June programme of events and activities here.

Read more about what we are trying to do and why – here