In late 2023, giffgaff and MG OMD established the Up To Good Fund, a pioneering new mechanism to embed UK nature recovery into their media campaigns. As a founding partner, giffgaff’s media ecosystem continues to make strides in the recovery of the UK’s ecosystems, most recently focusing on restoring peatland in the Eastern Moors of the Peak District.

Research published in 2025 found that 8.5% of the UK's surface is made up of peaty soil, but 80% of it is degraded. This means that, instead of capturing and storing carbon, these habitats are actually releasing it into the atmosphere where it is contributing to increasing global temperatures.

While it can become degraded very quickly, peat forms very slowly, accumulating on average only 1mm per year. The key component of peat is sphagnum moss, which spreads across the ground and biodegrades very slowly under waterlogged conditions. Sphagnum moss can hold up to 20 times its weight in water. This ability helps to hold water on the moors during wet months of the year, preventing flooding downstream.

The Eastern Moors are situated in the Peak District, just to the west of Sheffield. Being so close to an urban area, the benefits of restoring peatland here are many and varied.

• Flood protection protects homes and businesses - Research has found that re-vegetating blanket bogs and blocking gullies can slow the flow of water produced in storms and times of high rainfall, increasing lag times by 65% and reducing peak discharge in large storms by around 680%!

  
  

• Wildfire resilience - Since sphagnum holds up to twenty times its weight in water, it remains damp even in dry weather, so its presence improves the overall resilience to fires, both helping to limit the spread, and reducing the effects, including reducing air pollution from smoke in nearby towns and cities.

  
  

• Cleaner drinking water - Degraded peat gets washed into water running off the moors and into drinking water systems, meaning the water can be brown in colour, be more acidic, and can contain heavy metals dumped on the moors during the industrial revolution. This means more has to be done to clean the water before it reaches our taps. By conserving blanket bog, we are tackling water issues directly at the source. We’re allowing nature to improve the quality of raw water leaving the moor, reducing costs and water bills.

  
  

• Supporting biodiversity - Planting sphagnum helps create diverse, better functioning bogs leading to better habitat for moorland specialists like short-eared owl and merlin. In spring, dunlin, curlew and golden plover nest and raise their young, feeding on insects and other invertebrates found in the boggy peat. Specialist moorland insects include the bilberry bumblebee and the green hairstreak butterfly. This makes the moors an even more exciting place for local people to interact with nature.