Tis the season for festive giving and young people from Ferryhill made it their aim to do just that through the KEY+ Challenge. Together they delivered a social action KEY+ Project that strengthened intergenerational bonds and tackled isolation this festive period.
The group of 16-17 year olds, wanted to support the local community by arranging food hampers for local elderly residents bungalows next to the school they attend. They wanted to reach out to their vulnerable neighbours to say thank you and extend an invite to bring them together.
The young people had to research information and pricing online to ensure they could afford hampers for each elderly neighbour. The group sourced the cheapest prices and negotiated with the school about safely hand delivering the hampers to their neighbours too. It was quite a challenge for the group but one they felt was worthwhile once they saw the difference it made to others.
The group said: “doing something for the community gives you that wholesome feeling that kindness really does go a long way and we hope to inspire other young people in our school to do the same.”
During the project, there was one thing that the group particularly enjoyed which was being able to share their experiences on a larger scale. The group have been able to share information with other young people about the project and KEY+. They also enjoyed being able to work with each other’s strengths to ensure the best possible outcome!
Throughout the project, the group worked with others. Saying "team work makes the dream work!" The young people enlisted the help of younger children and young people in the area to deliver the gifts to the bungalows which helped the core group members during a stressful GCSE revision period.
Their KEY+ Project was a massive success and, as a result, more young people have been able to connect with more isolated members of their local community and encourage them to attend other events in their local area too!
Talking about giving back to the local community, the group recognised that their elderly neighbours have struggled with some of their peer’s behaviour, so, they wanted to “let them know that we appreciate their support” and that “actually its only a handful of young people that give the rest of [them] a bad name.”
Overall, KEY+ has made the group “much more confident” and the range of skills needed to organise, and plan helped them to recognise what they’re good at and what they’re not so good at. They also noted how they have “become more resilient as a large organisation is stressful.” They said, “once upon a time we wouldn’t have considered dealing with any Senior Leadership in school, however, this project has shown we can deal with people in power and authority for a great outcome.”
The skills they developed included an increase in confidence and better organisation. They also mentioned that KEY+ gave them opportunities that they wouldn't usually have been involved in.
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