About Ashton
Ashton started in the Eighties as a small community organisation in the New Lodge which launched a share drive in the local community. Over seven hundred people purchased shares which allowed the group to purchase the land on which the Ashton Centre now stands. It has since developed and it now has a turnover in excess of £3million and employs over 120 people in some of the most deprived wards in Northern Ireland. It owns five centres across North Belfast and is seen internationally as a model of best practice.
It has won a BURA Award for best practice in regeneration, Best Social Enterprise 2011 in Belfast Business Awards, Enterprising Britain Award, first community/ Voluntary sector organization to be part of OFMDFM Best practice scheme, highly commended in Irish News best place to work 2011.
Ashton’s mission, as defined in its 3 year strategic plan, is ‘To promote positive change and improve the quality of life of the North Belfast community’.
Ashton Community trust (ACT) operates in without doubt one of the worst urban areas in Northern Ireland. This part of Belfast, as well suffering the severe social and economic demise of many communities found in old industrial centres, was doubly hit throughout the period of the conflict with the highest rates of violent deaths and destruction. This bold initiative took place in the pre-Good Friday period and was an enormous risk, but one that paid off and was to be the beginning of the transformation of the area. Since then they have remained in community ownership and continued to build in an extremely entrepreneurial way a large and successful Community Trust with major assets and job creation.
Over the last three years Ashton has developed three new Centres in North Belfast at a cost of over £4 million and it now employs over 110 people. This has been done by re-investing surpluses and managing its income.