Ashes to Gold is a Northern Ireland charity focused on supporting people to rebuild confidence, purpose and wellbeing through practical activity and community-based support. At its Moorbrook site near Castlerock, this work is delivered through accessible outdoor programmes centred around angling, nature and shared experience.
At Moorbrook, children and young people have been able to access outdoor learning and inclusive activity at a scale that would not otherwise have been available locally. The work has created first-time opportunities for many participants to engage with fishing, spend time outdoors and take part in structured group activity in a safe and welcoming environment.
The impact is most clearly seen in who is reached and how the site is used. Activity has been designed to include those who face barriers to participation elsewhere — including young people with additional needs and families seeking more accessible outdoor provision. In this context, Moorbrook has become more than a venue; it operates as a reliable community space where participants can build confidence, develop new skills and take part alongside others.
A key outcome has been the way outdoor participation supports wider wellbeing. Evidence drawn from delivery describes how time spent at the lakes provides a calm, structured environment that helps reduce anxiety, build patience and reconnect participants with the natural world. For many, this has meant replacing time spent indoors with sustained engagement in outdoor activity — a shift that contributes to both physical and mental wellbeing.
The site itself has also evolved to support this inclusion. Improvements to access and infrastructure have helped ensure that participation is not limited by physical barriers, reinforcing the principle that the environment and the activity work together to enable inclusion.
Overall, the impact is not defined by individual programmes, but by the creation of a consistent, accessible space where outdoor learning, wellbeing and community participation can be sustained over time.
The Society’s funding provided stability over multiple years, supporting a dedicated Project Manager role and enabling the sustained delivery of activity at Moorbrook. This continuity allowed the site to operate as a consistent community asset, while also strengthening its ability to secure additional investment and improve accessibility — helping ensure that participation could expand rather than contract over time.
