Girls and young women in Basildon are being invited to share their views on how to improve the safety and design of local public spaces during a consultation event on 29 May 2026. The session will take place at the Vange Hill Community Centre on Vange Hill Drive from 3pm to 6pm.
The event is hosted by Basildon Council in partnership with Make Space for Girls, a charity that campaigns for public areas to be designed with the needs of teenage girls in mind. Organisers hope to gather feedback to help shape future improvements for parks and town centre locations across the borough.
The consultation is open to girls and young women aged 10 and over. Please note that those under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or older.
This project is part of a wider effort by the council to address safety concerns in public spaces. In February 2026, the local authority approved a funding package to tackle violence against women and girls, which included £45,000 specifically dedicated to turning the ideas of young women into physical improvements. This work follows research suggesting that current facilities, such as fenced pitches and skateparks, are often dominated by boys, with national data showing that 92% of teenage users on such pitches and 84% at skateparks are male.
The upcoming discussion builds on previous workshops held in the summer of 2025, where local teenagers produced the ‘Believe in Basildon’ report with specific design proposals for the town centre and Gloucester Park. A council spokesperson stated that the event is a key step in ensuring that the voices of young women directly influence local design projects, helping to ensure they feel heard, valued, and supported in their community.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
