Alexis, Charlotte, Emilia and Martyna are all members of KEY+ group, The Awkward Turtles. Social anxiety was a subject The Awkward Turtles knew about from their own experiences. For their Stage 3 KEY+ project, the group wanted to help bring young people together and make it easier for those who might struggle socially to get involved.
They decided to focus on three areas: creating a welcoming space at Kicks youth centre, improving the community garden and organising an outdoor activity. They also wanted to raise awareness of social anxiety and encourage more young people to spend time outside the house.
One group member explained why they chose the topic: “When you’re in school you see a lot of the kids don’t talk to each other as much so we thought we would do something to try bring people together because we want everyone to be friendly to each other and having a boost of confidence from somewhere where you don’t usually go could really help someone that was maybe struggling.”
The group took responsibility for developing their ideas, deciding what they wanted to achieve and managing the budget across the different parts of the project. In the garden, they chose colourful and sensory plants, including lavender, to help create a calming space. Within the youth centre they also created a charity shop. They then organised a walk and camping experience.
The camping plans had to change when poor weather made it unsafe to camp outdoors. Instead, the group went for a walk in Tanfield Woods before putting up tents and camping inside the youth centre. The group did a great job of adapting when things didn’t go to plan! For Anna, this turned out to be a highlight of the project: “The camping trip! It was just spending time with my friends when I don’t really speak to them outside of this. It was nice to be with people I know and just have fun and go camping.”
Taking on a project of this size wasn’t always easy. The group had to manage their time, work through disagreements and make decisions together. They also put in extra time to get everything finished. Overall, they developed practical skills in planning, budgeting and problem-solving, while also taking on opportunities they might previously have found difficult.
One member reflected on presenting the project: “I was really proud because I struggle a lot with doing presentations and speaking in front of my class and stuff, but when I came in, I helped present it. I was really proud I did that with confidence.”
The group also noticed a difference between their first and final presentations. One member explained: “Well, the first one that I did, we kind of planned it a bit more and had words to say. But for the last one, we didn’t have much of a script, we just said what we were doing and it’s weird because improv is quite hard to do, especially while doing presentations so it’s definitely a new skill.”
For Charlotte, becoming more confident speaking in front of others was another important change: “I think [KEY+ has helped] with presenting and stuff because I couldn’t get in front of the class and do speeches in front of new people, and if there’s new people coming here, I found it really hard to speak to them. When I presented, I got a lot of confidence from doing that.”
The project also gave the group a chance to recognise their own progress and try activities they hadn’t done before. One group member was proud of: “Doing new things because like I’ve never helped make a charity shop before, and gardening we don’t do much of. It was so many new experiences and I learnt that I liked gardening so I was quite proud of how many skills I have that I couldn’t do before the project.”
The skills they developed through KEY+ are also something they can take into the future. As one member put it: “I think it’s [KEY+] really good, it’s confidence building which really helps when you become older because for GCSEs you have to do presentations and I wouldn’t know how to do a presentation at all if I hadn’t started doing the ones here so it’s beneficial for the future.”
The work has also had an impact beyond the group itself, with people continuing to visit the space after the project ended. Reflecting on what they hoped to achieve, one member said: “Just the thought of getting people out of the house more and making people more confident. It [the project] has definitely had an impact.”
The Awkward Turtles took on a challenging project and saw it through together. They came away with new skills, more confidence in what they could do and an experience they could be proud of. Their advice to other young people considering doing KEY+ was simple: “Definitely do it because there’s so many things I’ve done through KEY+ that I would never have done… it’s just opened up so many opportunities, and I’ve made so many new friends doing it.”
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The Key