Castle Island came alive over the weekend, as over 200 people gathered for the Lough Erne Heritage Festival 2025 – a one-day celebration of culture, craft, and community supported by Choice Housing.
Celebrating the rich cultural and natural heritage of Lough Erne, the festival offered a range of hands-on opportunities to learn traditional skills such as willow weaving and bushcraft alongside fun activities for kids, including a range of water activities and cot boat building.
Delivered by skilled local artisans and heritage experts, the event promoted community pride, intergenerational learning, and social inclusion, attracting Choice Housing tenants alongside local residents from across the Enniskillen area.
Lough Erne Heritage Festival 2025
Graham Woods, Choice Area Manager said: “The Heritage Festival was about more than celebrating the past – it was about bringing people together in the present. The atmosphere on Castle Island was one of pride, connection, and discovery, allowing the local community to learn more about the place they call home.
“This event was an opportunity for tenants, residents and partners to come together, make social connections and learn skills that they might not otherwise learn, for example Orchard Husbandry – a form of fruit cultivation.
“This event marked the end of Choice’s first Shared Housing Week, which is an opportunity to pay tribute to the contribution from tenants, stakeholders and community partners in promoting meaningful engagement between residents and surrounding communities,” added Graham.
The event received support from the Department for Communities (DfC), and Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s ‘Housing for All’ Shared Housing Programme that has its origins in the NI Executive Together: Building a United Community Strategy which reflects its commitment to improving community relations and continuing the journey towards a more united, and shared, society.
Rossole Heights, Sligo Road, Enniskillen, shared housing development is also supported by the Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and a potential investment of £4.3m will be invested in the scheme’s development and associated five-year Good Relations Plan.
A key element of the good relations work for shared housing developments is identifying the challenges local communities are facing and using this to develop tailored projects that support these areas.
This involves collaborating with residents, partners and other stakeholders to deliver beneficial community relations through the establishment of the Enniskillen Shared Neighbourhood Advisory Group.
With over 13,000 properties across Northern Ireland, and a staff of c500 people, Choice provides a mix of supported, sheltered and general needs housing across Northern Ireland. The association currently has seven shared housing developments across the region.
The event was supported by a range of other local partners, including Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism, Cuilcagh Geopark, Tourism Northern Ireland (TNI), and Experience Enniskillen.
