The Portaferry and Strangford Trust (PAST) is a registered charity that depends entirely on the generosity of its donors and ad hoc grants to achieve its aims.  It promotes an awareness of the rich maritime heritage and natural environment of Strangford Lough and the sea more generally, as well as an understanding of how it has shaped our lives and will continue to do so.  To achieve this, we present information and provide experiences in an accurate and entertaining way to people of all ages through events, publications, videos, via our maritime history archive and at our exhibition centre (The Ropewalk, Portaferry).
Why the community needs us
We believe that developing this awareness will also help to increase the sense of pride that local people have in the area and draw visitors from outside, resulting in benefits to the local economy.
Our impact on the community
Our events, which have been running since early 2014, have proved popular with many positive comments. Exhibitions in The Ropewalk (open weekends and bank holidays from Easter until the end of September) have been attended by about 1500 enthusiastic visitors annually.  The Carol Ship on Strangford Lough attracts 3000+ visitors each year.