The Key and The Key+ Challenge

The LGA Foundation has partnered with The Key and have given a £8,000 grant to help fund future successful pitches for young people across the North East. The Key is a North East based charity has developed The Key+ Challenge. The challenge aims to inspire young people by challenging them to pitch for funding for their own unique projects. These projects can be anything that the young people feel strongly about; from a visit to the Zoo or a community venture to partnering with the Kelder Forest for an astrology project. The young people are prepared and supported through the KEY+ Challenge pitching process by Key members, as well as a ‘panel’, which is comprised of ‘Key Partners’. Think ‘Dragons Den’ but more friendly! The Key supports young people aged 11-25 and predominately work alongside charities and youth groups to offer this exciting and inspirational opportunity. Each year, 5,000 young people complete The Key+ Challenge.

The Key primarily focuses on four ‘KEY’ beliefs:

– Empowered to use their voice and be heard

– Trusted to lead and deliver projects meaningful to them

– Supported to build the skills and confidence they need to thrive

– Inspired to be active citizens by exploring enterprise or tacking social issues in their community

An example of a group that have completed the KEY + Challenge are a group of young women called The Lionesses. The group was made up of five young women who were not in education, employment or training when they came to The Key. The group wanted to have a better future and found that the structure of training or courses was incredibly challenging whilst dealing with issues such as severe anxiety, ADHD, Autism and being involved in the justice system.

The group met at a local support group and started their Stage 1 KEY+ project to have an outlet and to create friendships with a trip to Flamingo Land. Prior to their pitch, they planned their transport, searched for pricing before pitching their idea to the panel. The group had a fantastic time at Flamingo Land and the experience inspired them to progress to stage 2 of The Key+ Challenge and decided to form their own micro-business; an eco-friendly candle and wax product business using recycled containers and environmentally friendly ingredients. They started planning, searching for information, working out required quantities, ingredients and budgeting before presenting their business to the panel.

They scoured charity shops for vessels and asked the local community for donations to be transformed into candles. They decided as a group which scents should be chosen, created their own branding and worked hard on their communication in order to overcome the natural challenges that one faces when running a business. They created flyers and Facebook groups to promote their business and it did not take long before the Lionesses had a number of orders and were making a profit!

Throughout the KEY+ Challenge, the Lionesses transformed – They built key skills for the future, started to believe in themselves and what they could offer the community. Since completing the challenge, the women have re-engaged with the community. One of the women is in full time employment, one in college studying Photography and the rest in full time college eduction.

“We have developed our problem solving, communication, team working and independence skills”

 

This case study is one of the many amazing and transformational experience that The Key+ Challenge has helped to enable for young people across the North East.

LGA Foundation is proud to be supporting such an inspirational and important cause and we look forward to hearing of more amazing pitches over the next few months.

“Before I did the panel I felt anxious but doing the pitch gave me the confidence to speak up more. I feel more confident now and can speak to people more and be more outgoing”

For more information on The Key and The Key+ Challenge: https://www.thekeyuk.org/