Chelmsford City Council’s inclusive green spaces project presented in parliament
Students from The Boswells School were invited to parliament to talk to MPs about their work with Chelmsford City Council. This inspiring group of students spearheaded an on-going project that’s diversifying our green spaces.
The award-winning project is led by Chelmsford City Council’s community safety team and partners Make Space for Girls and Social Place, with support from the council’s Parks and Green Spaces department. It invites teenage girls and gender diverse young people to “design themselves in” to their local area.
Sharing their insight
Back in 2024, when the students were in Year 9, they spent time identifying how they felt about public realm, their place within it, and what they would like to see change. They then presented their ideas for change to councillors in Chelmsford’s Council Chamber. Based on their suggestions, the council’s parks team designed and created a social seating area, which is now known as Our Place, in Central Park.
Seeing their ideas come to life has shown the students that “our voices matter” and “we can have a real impact on our communities.” The project won an Inspire Future Generations Award in recognition of its impact in empowering young people – and it also caught the attention of Marie Goldman MP.
Chelmsford's Member of Parliament says that after seeing the impact the project has had locally, she wanted to invite the students to share their insights on a national level by speaking to MPs from across the UK.
““I was so impressed by this fantastic project, which shows exactly why girls need to be included in the design of the public spaces they use every day.
Marie Goldman MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities
“I wanted to share this work with other MPs from across the country, in the hope that they'll work with their local councils, Make Space for Girls, and Social Place to do something similar in their own constituencies. What better way to do that than by bringing the girls involved into Parliament, and letting them share their experiences with MPs face-to-face?
“They spoke with such confidence and intelligence, which is not always easy when speaking with public figures, and were a credit to themselves, to The Boswells School, and to Chelmsford."
A lasting impact: making green spaces more inclusive
Thanks to the Boswells students’ work on the first iteration of the project, it has since been rolled out across Chelmsford district and to our neighbouring district, Maldon. So far, students from Chelmer Valley High School and William de Ferrers School have presented ideas to make their local parks more inclusive to girls and gender diverse young people. More schools are set to take part in the new academic year.
Councillor Natacha Dudley, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, says the project has shown how important it is to amplify the voices of young people:
““This project has proven that the best way to understand the barriers young people face, is to ask them directly – and then show that we’ve listened. In this case, we’re addressing the gender disparity in use of parks and green spaces, and we’ve gained invaluable insight from the students who have worked with us and our partners, Make Space for Girls and Social Place.
Cllr Natacha Dudley, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing
“Chelmsford City Council wants to ensure that all young residents are comfortable and confident in making the most of our beautiful parks and green spaces, and the learnings from this project will be hugely influential in helping us do that. The success of the student-designed spaces is already informing decisions on future developments.”
The latest student-led design opened in Broomfield’s Angel Meadow this month. Based on the work of students from Chelmer Valley High School, Broomfield Parish Council has created a sheltered seating area, with charging ports for phones and colourful lighting that can be controlled via a free-to-use app. Additional lighting has also been installed nearby and local primary school students painted bollards in the carpark, to add further colour to the area.
New seating and lighting at Angel Meadow in Broomfield.
More information
Make Space for Girls’ research shows that:
63% of young men regularly use parks, compared to only 31% of young women;
50% of young men used football pitches/ball courts regularly, compared to only 6% of young women;
92% of the teenage users of fenced pitches (a common provision in public parks) are boys and young men;
84% of teenage users of skateparks are boys and young men.
If you are a Parish Councillor interested in facilitating a green spaces project in your area, please contact Community.Safety@chelmsford.gov.uk.
To learn more about Make Space for Girls, visit https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk.
To learn more about Social Place, visit https://www.social-place.org/.
