The Sisterwood

Recognising the achievements of Tees Valley women

Located at Middlesbrough’s Stewart Park, our Sisterwood recognises the achievements of Tees Valley women past, present and future.

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Group of people stood with Julie Burniston after planting her tree
Julie Burniston planting her tree
Group of people stood looking towards the camera at the Sisterwood
Lyndsay Hogg planting her tree at the Sisterwood
Lyndsay Hogg stood with Ann Stonehouse infront of Lyndsay's tree at the Sisterwood
tree's are currently planted at the Assist Sisterwood
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Goodwill Ambassador's planted in history
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Throughout the Tees Valley region there is an absence of female representation in the form of a statue or sculpture. In 2019 the Assist team embarked on a campaign to address this imbalance.

Our young woodland is a space which will grow and mature as it gives recognition to the achievements of our Tees Valleys women.

With the support of Middlesbrough Council, along with the recent and current Elected Mayors, Andy Preston and Chris Cooke, and the park’s team, we have a corner of the Stewart Park that consists of a group of young native woodland trees which were selected and planted by the volunteers at Assist Women’s Network.

We visit the Sisterwood a few times a year, one in particular is our favourite, on the first Thursday in October we have a tree planting ceremony for our Goodwill Ambassador. And we plant spring bulbs that day too.

planting History in the sisterwood

We now have fives trees which represent Assist Goodwill Ambassadors: Yasmin Kahn, Bianca Robinson, Lyndsay Hogg, Helena Bowman and Julie Burniston.

We have firmly planted them in the history of Middlesbrough and the Tees Valley to recognise all they have done and do for women and business in our region. 

This space also gives recognition to all the volunteers of Assist, the committee & committees of past, the core team, project and campaign volunteers, along with the Regional Teams that work on the events. With an abundance of hard work for over 15 years, this space is dedicated to the goodwill, time and effort of 100’s of volunteers.
 
To create the woodland space, Middlesbrough Council generously gave us more trees than we requested, we then set on a collaboration journey with Teesside Archives as we wanted the additional trees to be dedicated to local Women of History. The network and external funders support this campaign as we continue to plant a tree a year for our Assist Goodwill Ambassadors nominated and selected by their peers in the community.

As we nurture and grow this space, we have a vision for The Sisterwood to be a destination to visit and a place to feel empowered as we celebrate and recognise the remarkable and inspiring women of Tees Valley.

  • We continue to fundraise as we add a tree each year for future Assist Goodwill Ambassadors.  
  • We strive for ‘Visibility of Tees Valley Women in the Mainstream’ – this sits as one of our organisations key strategies
  • We are inviting primary schools to visit The Sisterwood, to discover these women of the past and present.
  • We will continue to add more bulbs each year and we want you to be apart of this. Help us to bring our Sisterwood to life by with the colour of the Suffragettes and our brand each Spring.


Our plan is to continue to plant spring bulbs, have a Roll of Honour to etch our Assist Goodwill Ambassadors names in to the Sisterwood.  With pathways, hedging, and perhaps a gate in the form of a sculpture we plan to frame the space and make it welcoming to sit. This development will be with the involvement of the creative community and students from our colleges.

The Sisterwood will be digitised to create global visibility. All the women included in our Sisterwood will also have their place in history preserved with a record in Teesside Archives so that generations to come can learn about those trailblazers who came before us.

Julie Burniston stood with her hand holding her planted tree
Julie Burniston AGA24/25
Lyndsay Hogg stood beside her tree
Lyndsay Hogg GA22/23

Time to visit

The Sisterwood will be our legacy, left to the region with the tree's and the archive records. Assist Women's Network and our Tees Valley women will be remembered and talked about for years to come.

Please visit The Sisterwood and watch it grow. It is yours and ours to share.

Our Partners

We are proud to gain support from Teesside Archives & Middlesbrough Council
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