about us

We campaign for parks and public spaces to be designed for girls and young women, not just boys and young men.

A girl in a sheltered park space

We raise awareness of the issue, as well as using research and campaigning to ensure that the voices of girls and young women are heard in the planning process.

Above all, we place teenage girls at the centre of all our work - they are the experts on their local spaces and understand how to make things better. And there is no ‘one size fits everyone’; all their voices need to be heard for change to happen.

We are working on a range of projects which improve parks and other outdoor spaces in order to support opportunities for teenage girls and improve their mental and physical well-being and their access to public space. We collaborate with a wide range of institutions, including universities, health trusts, councils and developers to create change.

OUR TEAM
Co-founder

Susannah Walker

Susannah Walker's varied career has included working in museums, as a tv producer for the BBC and Channel 4 and writing several books. She became outraged when she realised that not only had her local council only provided outdoor facilities for teenage boys, they didn’t propose to do anything about it either.  She particularly enjoys gathering data and finding great examples of spaces for teenage girls from other countries.
Trustee

Caroline Millar

Caroline Millar first became involved in her local park in Hackney in 2002 when she started running annual free summer events for children and young people out of an almost derelict bowling pavilion. She went on to chair the park’s user group for many years and was closely involved in a major restoration project involving a complete redesign of the park and its facilities. Caroline now chairs the GP Confederation in City and Hackney. She is strongly committed to addressing health inequalities and ensuring everyone has access to high quality and accessible public spaces.
Trustee

Honor Rhodes

Honor Rhodes, OBE, works for Tavistock Relationships and is committed to improving the mental and physical health of families, particularly children and young people, by improving relationships and social connections. As a Trustee of Clapton Girls’ Academy she is interested in how girls and young women use spaces around them and what would promote the equitable taking and making of space. Living in an inner London borough and as a parent of children of both sexes she has always been anxious about the way children’s freedom to roam is a gendered issue.
Trustee

Sian Kilkenny

Sian Kilkenny is a chartered accountant and has held multiple senior finance roles at FTSE 250 property developer British Land. She is passionate about the lifelong benefits that sport and leading an active lifestyle can bring but is all too aware this is less accessible for women and girls, particularly during critical teenage years. She believes public spaces have the potential to provide an important foundation in changing this and is excited to see more variety and inclusivity in such spaces in the future.
Associate

Katy Baker

Katy has nearly 20 years’ experience of working with the third sector. Having spent many years in both charity front-line and leadership roles, the last five years have been spent supporting charities and socially-driven organisations as a strategy, governance and fundraising consultant. Katy is passionate about social equality, and particularly interested in breaking down structural inequalities for women and girls. Katy holds trustee positions for both a small and large charity in the West Midlands and has an MBA in Strategic Management.
Associate

Abigail Gaines

Abigail Gaines has a background in secondary school leadership and now manages Friends of Rowntree Park in York. Her work in pastoral care and teaching gender inequalities, as well as being the mother of a daughter and a son, means that she understands first hand the importance of fostering inclusive spaces and is an advocate for girls' rights and inclusion. At Rowntree Park she has led on engagement and co-creation work with teenage girls and now works with others to support similar initiatives.
“Make Space for Girls has some great resources compiling findings and actions taken by councils across the world and what has been learnt from the process of consulting with local girls and designers so far.”

Abigail Gaines

Friends of Rowntree Park

Talk to us about how we can work together to create better spaces.

Get in touch with us using the form.

email@makespaceforgirls.co.uk
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