Listening to teenage girls on their views and ideas for Rownteee Park is key to the Make Space project. An area in Rowntree Park has been, and continues to be, co-designed with teenage girls with equipment they ask for. The project continues to get views of girls (there is a survey out now).
Girls have told us they want places to be active in ways that are non-competitive. Spaces to sit, swing, climb, balance and chat. Somewhere that feels close enough to the rest of the park to feel connected, but set back enough to feel like it is theirs. Equipment designed for them, where they do not feel pushed out when younger children arrive. A space where they know they are allowed to be.
The Make Space York project has just got some funding from TRU community fund that means the area will continue to develop in 2026 and continues to look for further funding.
This project is about more than equipment. It is about valuing girls’ experiences, trusting their ideas and showing that when girls speak up, change can follow. Others benefit too from their ideas and changes to the park