For Helen, being a KEY+ Facilitator is about more than just supporting projects – it’s about giving young people the chance to believe in what they’re capable of and watching that belief grow.

Helen has been involved with The Key for several years, facilitating KEY+ groups at Gosforth East Middle School (GEMS) and The Bunker in Sunderland.

Over this time, Helen has supported a wide range of projects, from tips and activities to live music events and enterprise projects, so choosing a favourite project isn’t easy: “I kind of have a favourite one each year so the gigs are my favourite at the minute. But then planning the days out is brilliant. I don’t think I can pick a favourite, don’t make me choose!”

What keeps Helen coming back to KEY+ year after year is the variety it brings to her job at Gosforth East Middle School as history teacher: “I love that it keeps things fresh, I’ve been teaching for 20 odd years, so I know I start in September with the Battle of Hastings, and then I do the Plague and then WW1, and I know what I tend to do. With KEY+… it just keeps things fresh; I never know what’s going to happen and I love that. I love the new challenge for me personally but then you see the kid’s growth too.”

And seeing that growth is one of the most rewarding parts of the process: “I think getting them to think big and think that they can do it is exciting.”

Helen also said the transformation she sees in young people throughout the KEY+ journey is amazing:  “Their confidence grows and their belief in themselves just blossoms.”

One young person Helen supported stands out as a powerful example of the difference KEY+ can make: “It was one of my very first groups actually… a young lad who was at risk of exclusion and got into a lot of bother. Richard, who used to be the CEO [at The Key] came and watched him when The Key used to do the £2,000 [projects], he came and watched that presentation and he was really impressed with him. And then Richard got him to present awards and showed such faith and belief in him and I’m convinced that’s the reason he is still in school because he is still in mainstream school, I see him frequently, he always speaks. You could see when Richard sort of spoke to him that he grew in belief… I’m convinced that a lot of the reason that Jay is still in school, is because of Richard.”

Alongside confidence, young people also learn practical lessons about planning and budgeting. Helen remembers one early project where her group travelled to York for the day: “I took one of my earlier groups to York and we did a couple of activities and had a bit of lunch and got the train. And I remember one of the lads saying, ‘was this really £250?’” Moments like that are part of the learning process.

“And the other thing I love is when you get your first groups and you have £250 and they say, ‘can we go abroad?’ Absolutely! Get online, I want flights, accommodation, food. And then the sharp realisation that no they can’t, I like that knowledge, I think that it’s so important.”

When it comes to facilitating KEY+ groups, Helen said that the most important thing is allowing the young people to take the lead: “Let the kids take the lead and I would say that the magic happens at Stage 3.”

Helen also likes to help groups create connections between their projects as they move through the stages: “I think one of the things that I’m trying to do, and it doesn’t always work, is try and see if you can find a link between all 3 projects. It doesn’t have to be massively set in stone, it can be quite a small link but trying to see if there’s a link between all 3 projects, I think that works really well.”

For Helen, one of the biggest strengths of KEY+ is the way it gives young people real ownership of their ideas: “It just puts them in the driving seat and it lets them be in charge of things like, a fairly massive budget… it just puts them in control.”

And sometimes that means stepping back entirely and letting the group take responsibility: “When I took a group to London, I did nothing, I genuinely did nothing. I was a grown-up there and that was it. You put them in that level of control, and you don’t, just don’t take over.”

So, when it comes to recommending KEY+ to others, Helen’s message is simple: “Just do it. It’s fab, I love it. It’s the bit of my job that I love the most. I mean I like teaching history, but this is the bit of my job that keeps me getting out of bed in the morning. It’s great, I love it.”