The Catalyst (for 18-25 year olds)

The Catalyst is a 6-day residential programme for 18–25-year-olds who want to develop and grow, carve their own path and connect with others who want to make positive change. The Catalyst is a creative and transformational programme, a rite of passage for young adults at a transitional stage in life.

With Israh Goodall, Tony Cealy, Xanthe Green and Tugba Kirhan

Is this for you?

“People need a solid launchpad. Most don’t have it – Catalyst provides it.”Benji, Catalyst Participant

In a time of unprecedented challenge and opportunity, how do we hold on to a sense of who we are and how we contribute meaningfully to our community?

The Catalyst invites you to learn to discover who you are, who you are becoming, who you want to be and to find your edge. You will be encouraged and challenged in mind, body, and heart within a supportive community of peers and skilled mentors. We will give you tools to develop and strengthen your existing skills to step fully and powerfully into your life. 

Set in our beautiful 50-acre valley in Devon on the edge of Dartmoor, The Catalyst is a rich weave of creative collaboration, individual and group challenges, one-to-one mentoring, personal reflection, embodiment, connecting with the land and celebration. The natural world offers us a powerful mirror of who we are and what we can offer the world. Through sharing our experiences in the safety of the group and held by your facilitators, you will develop a deeper understanding of yourself and your place in this rapidly changing world.

The Catalyst offers you the opportunity to:

• Gain a clearer understanding of yourself, your gifts and your direction and purpose in life
• Learn how to embody your ‘centred self’ and the relationship between rhythm and being
• Become alive to your creativity
• Deepen your relationship with our land and develop new friendships, to create a tribe
• Explore the fundamental issues we face, individually and collectively, to imagine positive futures
• Explore ways of navigating uncertainty and the uncomfortable with courage and an inner confidence
• Develop authentic leadership and change-making skills 
• Be heard, learn to powerfully voice yourself and speak out about things you care about
• Step into self-authority, claiming your power in these changing times
• Uncover the path to bring your brightest passions and delights to fruition
• Practice skills in personal and collective resilience and wellbeing

The Catalyst offers space and culture to explore what it means to dive more deeply into your life, with opportunities to mark what no longer serves you, as you step more fully into the life you choose to lead.  

This programme has been co-created by a diverse group of facilitators, intending to support and encourage inclusivity and an open and compassionate expression of our differences. 

Key information:

DATES:
23 – 28 July 2023

LOCATION:
Residential course based in Devon, at Embercombe

ACCOMODATION:
Shared accommodation is at Embercombe in one of our two yurt villages

FEE:
£696 Regular Ticket
£876 Supporter Ticket

Please consider purchasing a Supporter Ticket if your finances allow it, to subsidise participants who can’t afford the full price.

Interest-free payment plans are available, please see below.

Limited bursary places are available on application.

INTEREST-FREE PAYMENT PLANS:
In order to increase accessibility to our Programmes, we are delighted to offer interest-free payment plans to allow you to spread the cost of a Balance Ticket over a number of months. If you would like to utilise this option, please purchase a Deposit Ticket for the programme and then click here to set up your personalised interest-free Payment Plan for the Balance Payment.

Facilitators

Israh Goodall

Israh’s work explores and is inspired by life’s transitions and thresholds, permeating all aspects of her work as a midwife, expedition leader, somatic coach, and rites of passage facilitator. As a midwife, she has worked with remote tribes in the Afar region of Ethiopia, in Pakistan, in Zanzibar’s bush hospitals, and in the NHS in the UK. As a qualified Mountain Leader, she has led youth expeditions in the UK, Ladakh, Armenia, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Lesotho, empowering young people to step into adulthood by helping them create and embark on their own meaningful journeys. As a Rites of Passage facilitator, she has trained with and assisted for School of Lost Borders. She runs programs for women and girls in the UK and co-facilitated ‘Call of the Wild’ at Schumacher College in Devon. More recently, she has been working 1-1, bringing somatic awareness and nature connection to support women and girls in times of change. Israh has always found great inspiration spending extended periods of time in nature, particularly in the mountains. In both her own experiences and in witnessing others, she has seen the power of the natural world in guiding and holding people through times of change.

Tony Cealy

Tony Cealy is a drama & theatre practitioner and producer using the arts to create dialogue about social, economic and political concerns. I collaborate with grassroots groups, charitable, community organisations and the wider voluntary community sector to provide creative programmes, projects and events that support people to live with the uncertainty and complexity that surrounds them. Out of these partnerships and collaborations I co-design a range of community led workshops, performances, projects and programmes that are about empowerment and social change.

Xanthe Green

Xanthe Green is an Outdoor Education facilitator, leading nature connection groups for all ages, including Forest School for home-educated teenagers, bushcraft events with WildWise, creative practice camps for the charity Lifebeat and Embercombe’s Experience Weekends. She has a passion for co-creating programmes where young people have fun, feel safe and included, and are challenged to fulfil their potential while following their hearts and their personal interests. Xanthe has a BA degree in Business and Psychology, following which she worked in support of young people, which included teaching, tutoring, home-educating and mentoring. Xanthe additionally managed a thriving community health food store for seven years, becoming a finalist in multiple national awards. She holds various leadership training certifications including: Forest School, Call of the Wild, Tending the Green Fire and 8 Shield’s Art of Mentoring. Xanthe has been connecting with Embercombe for twelve years, including bringing her sons to the ‘Friends of Embercombe’ working weekends, undertaking numerous Embercombe courses and is currently under mentorship with the Founder, Mac Macartney. Xanthe is dedicated to deepening her personal relationship with the natural world, through vision quests & amp; rites of passage and by holding tree planting days, earth ceremonies and fireside circles.

Tugba Kirhan

Tugba first came to Embercombe in 2018 as a participant on The Journey and has supported the core team in various capacities since that time. Having deepened her relationship with the land and Embercombe’s ethos, she now facilitates on  programmes including The Journey and The Hearth.  With a background in the humanitarian sector, Tugba is a project manager, facilitator, coach, and breathwork & embodiment practitioner. As a native of rural Anatolia (Turkey), where East meets West, bridging is in her nature. Her name, which means “tree of life,” is a testament to her commitment to building a world where all beings can thrive and flourish. Tugba leads with her heart, brings her warmth and sensitivity to all spaces she inhabits, and inspires others who also feel that there must be another way of living a better life.

Embercombe – Your Stay

Accommodation

You will stay in one of our beautiful yurt villages. Each yurt is furnished with comfortable beds and wood fired stove. Both yurt villages have a compost toilets and running water. Full bathroom facilities with hot showers are available in the main building.

Catering

All your meals are included. Organic, vegetarian food is lovingly prepared on site using produce from the Embercombe garden wherever possible. Special diets are adeptly catered for. Please indicate if you require this on your booking form.