STEW: A Summery Picnic in the Park.
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 12 hours ago
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Summary
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Rowntree Park at the end of June for our third ever STEW event. As we were outside, we were understandably worried about how the climate crisis was going to show up on the day - was it going to be torrential rain and storms, or worryingly hot?
In the end - it was hot, so we created some shady spots and grabbed some extra water to allow for the garden party spirit and community vibes to come through.
We were surrounded by amazing people with a common goal - to improve the lives of others, and those that came raised a whopping £569 for grassroots action.
After introductions, the audience heard three grassroots pitches, all only 4 minutes long and filled with passion. They voted for their favourite, deciding on which group would receive the majority of a prize pot.
We can now announce that Growing York won the most votes and walked away with the lions share of the funding, £369. A massive well done to them.
Rogue Creators and Anti Raids York (both equally worthy causes) will each receive £100 for taking part.
Our thoughts
We know that whenever we choose to host an event, there will be people who can't make it. This might be because of childcare, work or caring responsibilities. The first two times we hosted STEW, we did it during the evening, and have been inside at the wonderful Bluebird Bakery in Acomb.
This time, we thought we'd mix things up and invite people along on a a Saturday afternoon, in a park. What this allowed for was families to join in. We were delighted to see children taking part in voting, and loved that it started new conversations about participation. We were also happy to see younger people take an interest in the issues that each of our pitchers shone a light on, whether that be idea of Open Borders, what fair funding for creatives looks like or how we can respond to food insecurity.
York Together members and staff arrived early to help set up the event, along with a sound technician and our amazing volunteers. There was Nick (who is now basically honorary member), along with the very artistic Mark and Kristoff - who used playground chunky chalks to brighten up the space.
At 1pm our first attendees began to arrive and sign in, but we also had members of the public stopping by to have a chat and find out what was happening. We love talking to new people, and it was great to see that each person was so supportive of our goals and grassroots action - even if they'd never heard of us before.
Before the speakers began, attendees gathered under gazebos which were spaced around the park's amphitheatre. There was time to sit and get to know your neighbour, listen to some summer tunes and enjoy some delicious arabic salad, provided by Yahalla Mataam.
It was then time to hear from our fantastic pitchers, and we were so appreciative of the support our audience gave to all three. It's not always easy to stand up in front of a crowd and take part in public speaking - but it felt like each of our pitchers were really held through the experience.
After this, we asked everybody there to contemplate what they'd heard and make their vote - rounding the event off with some yummy baklava for all.
We always love holding STEW events. It's always so interesting to hear from different groups, and even better to watch connections spring up between like-minded people who would have never met otherwise.
Thank you so much to everyone involved:
our pitchers
our audience
our BSL Interpreters, Abbi and Shelley
the amazing sound technician, Bruce.
our (always fantastic) photographer, Steven
and our hard-working volunteers, Nick, Mark and Kristoff
Get to know our pitchers
All three of our pitchers delivered speeches that were full of knowledge and learning. Thank you so much to each person who stood up and shared how they are all striving to make York that bit more just and inclusive.
Rogue Creators
Rogue Creators’ Fund is a collective-giving community, piling together small contributions into a central pot to offer monetary support to creatives in York and surrounding areas through one-off donations.
Applicants don’t have to be members, all that's asked, is that they fill in a short application form to help them explain their projects. Members contribute into the fund and then vote on the applications. At the end of the process they make a one-off donation to the selected applicant. All applicants receive feedback to help them craft stronger applications whether they’re applying to the Rogue Creators again or other funding sources.
Growing York
This group is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) which aims to produce both food and community. Their hope is to create more access to local, high quality and ethically produced food, as well as increasing the resilience of the food system.
They also provide an outdoor space that the community can access, enabling both physical and mental health through direct influence over land use, encouraging active participation, and creating a sense of belonging and connection to place.
If you'd like to connect in with Growing York - just drop us an email.
York Anti-Raids
They are a grassroots community group of migrants and allies working together in various sites of resistance against the apartheid regime of UK immigration law in York.
The group was established in October 2025, responding to an increase of immigration raids in the city. In practice what this means is that they hold workshops teaching people their rights and how to intervene in an immigration raid to prevent wherever possible the abduction of community members. They also do local business outreach to build relationships and have an alert whatsapp so that if a raid is taking place people can get there quickly to support.
Gallery
All photographs were taken by Steven Eric Parker. See more of his work,
Appreciation Cards
We asked attendees to jot down what they enjoyed about the pitchers and STEW itself on 'appreciation cards'. This was a great way of allowing heartfelt compliments to reach pitchers in a non-confrontational way and without putting anyone on the spot.
"We hope everyone enjoyed their time like we did and love to see so many friends and family come together"
"This feels like proper grassroots action in play. Thank you!"
"We loved the safe place for grown ups and kids to come together and play and share."
"York Together - Thank you! You do amazing work as a collective and support our community initiatives and growth. I love STEW!"
"All fantastic pitchers! It was lovely to find out about all these projects."
"We felt so welcome, and it was such a nice place to realise how colourful everyone can be. We love how friendly everyone is."
"Great to see everyone together and have lots of new conversations!"
What's next:
Our next STEW event will take place on Wednesday 28th October at the Bluebird Bakery.
If you or anyone you know would like to take part as a pitcher please email us: hello@yorktogether.org
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