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
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.
Trustee

Natalie Howden

Natalie is a Public Health professional with over 15 years of experience in health improvement, community improvement and health protection roles. Natalie specialises in the wider determinants of health, health in all policies and healthy urban design. She is passionate about reducing structural inequalities and improving communities. Natalie is a proud mother of a daughter and a son and feels passionately about the importance of providing inclusive and secure environments for children to enjoy and thrive. Natalie is determined to advocate for recreational spaces that prioritise the safety and well-being of young girls and women.
Trustee

Margaret Koudelkova

Margaret is passionate about creating inclusive spaces, both physically and in the virtual world. She has over five years of experience listening to & sharing stories of people on the move as an editor of Routed Magazine, and delivering strategic executive support at Abri housing association, working to create and provide homes and communities for all who need them. Margaret recently formalised her passion for creating inclusive spaces with a Foundation in Architecture degree from RIBA.
Trustee

Nadine Peters

Nadine works with organizations in the creative and cultural industries to deliver impactful projects that promote social change. She brings a diverse background in creative consultancy, with expertise in fashion design, digital advertising, and broadcasting. Nadine produced and hosted the award-winning podcast Thursley, which features interviews with women and gender-non-conforming artists in sound and music, discussing their research and development processes. This podcast received support from Arts Council England and The British Music Collection. Additionally, Nadine serves on London local authority Southwark Council's steering committee for the ‘Black Culture Conversation (BCC)’ project, where she applies her creativity to placemaking initiatives focusing on human-centred and community-engaged outcomes.
“Currently I am refurbishing several play areas and included in the brief for all sites is an instruction to “Make Space for Girls” and a link to your website. The designs are judged on several criteria, one is specifically “Has provision for girls been taken into account?” [...] You are changing the mind-set of the developers.”

Council play specialist

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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