For Stephen, supporting young people to achieve their potential isn’t just part of his role – it’s something he has experienced firsthand.
Now a Youth Support Worker at Laurel Avenue Community Association, Stephen recently supported a group of young people to deliver their very own Youth Action Unlocked Project (Laurel United), helping them build skills, confidence and friendships along the way.
But his journey with The Key began long before he became a facilitator.
Stephen first got involved with The Key as a young person attending a local youth group in 2018 – an experience that would go on to shape his future: “The first time I got involved with The Key was when I was a young child myself… to do a project I’ve never done [before] was nerve-wracking, exciting, but new.”
Alongside two others, Stephen led a project focused on improving access to sanitary products for young women who may face financial or home-life challenges.
Completing the KEY+ Challenge was a defining moment for Stephen: “The most exciting thing was finishing it… I felt excited and proud that I achieved something.”
Through experience, Stephen developed skills that still shape his work today: “I felt empowered, proud… I learned valuable skills such as teamwork, stepping out of my comfort zone as well to go into the panel.” Talking about the panel, Stephen said: “I never liked face to face so it was scary so yeah that was a big achievement of mine.”
And those skills didn’t stay in the past, they became part of his everyday life: “It [KEY+] got me out of my comfort zone [and] to bring my skills that I learned into work [and] to do interviews, meetings… where I won’t feel nervous.”
Stephen’s Time as a Facilitator
Years later, Stephen found himself supporting young people through the very programme that once empowered him: “How I felt as a young child doing KEY+, it just made me feel so proud… so, when Laurel Avenue did it with another group of children […] I stepped in and I helped them do what they needed to do to gain those skills and feel how I felt when I did KEY+.”
One of the most rewarding parts of facilitating was seeing relationships form among young people who previously barely interacted: “A lot of the children who did the project at the start wouldn’t really communicate with each other… so when we did KEY+, it brought those people together to be part of a group, part of a team, to communicate, to build friendships.”
“It made me feel proud that those children have communicated and have made real friendships that expand outside of the project.”
“They were so proud and it just made us as a facilitator feel really overwhelmed, happy, [and] excited for them.”
Stephen is passionate about encouraging others to take part: “If you can do the KEY+ Challenge, I would definitely do so, it allows you to do so many things you might not do in life… it just unlocks so many things.”
Why become a KEY+ Facilitator?
For Stephen, supporting young people is incredibly rewarding: “It’s amazing working with young people because us as a facilitator really do see the impact that it has on those young people and what really motivates them and is close to their hearts, like mental health. So, when we see them achieve something… it’s really rewarding.”
Stephen also credits his own facilitators, back when he did the KEY+ Challenge, with inspiring his career path: “When I was a young person doing KEY+, we had amazing facilitators… looking up to them really inspired us to, you know, I want to do that, I want to be like them.”
Stephen’s journey perfectly captures the long-term power of youth work – from gaining confidence as a young person doing the KEY+ Challenge to now empowering the next generation.
His story is a reminder that when young people are given the opportunities to step forward, they don’t just grow, they go on to inspire others to do the same.
Read more about the Laurel United project and the difference these young people made in their community here.
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The Key