For Matilda, Poppy and Charley, taking part in KEY+ has been about much more than planning a fun night with their friends. Their project has given them the chance to make decisions together, manage a £500 budget and turn their ideas into something real.

For their Stage 2 project, they decided they wanted to do a sleepover for the girls group! They considered different ideas, including an air trail and hotel stay, but realised these wouldn’t work for everyone. Instead, they decided to hold the project at their youth club: “We decided to do it at the young club so everyone could join,” Matilda said.

With Halloween approaching, the group decided to give their original sleepover idea a spooky twist. Their plan now includes a Halloween-themed girls sleepover, complete with Halloween snacks, decorations, pyjamas, pumpkin carving and a trip to Psycho Path where they will experience horror attractions, mazes and actors dressed up to scare visitors.

Planning the project has meant making plenty of decisions – including how to spend their £500 budget. “We asked the group what we should do with the £500 and we all decided the sleepover would be good,” Poppy said.

They have had to think about everything they will need, from inflatable mattresses and pyjamas to food, refreshments and pamper materials. Managing such a large amount of money was a new experience for the group, with Poppy describing it as “really empowering.”

One challenging part of their project was making decisions about what everyone would enjoy, including working out what food to provide: “[It was] a struggle because we were tyring to work out what meal we wanted and finding out what everyone would like” Poppy explained.

These decisions have meant listening to different opinions and finding ways to work together. For the group, that has been one of the most important part of the KEY+ experience.

When asked what they were most proud of, Poppy said: “Working together.” She also highlighted the fact that the group had managed to work through disagreements without falling out.

The project has given the group the opportunity to practice communication and teamwork in a practical way. Charley identified communication as an important skill they have developed “because when people meet each other, [often] they don’t know how to communicate.”

They have also started to think about how the skills they are developing could help them outside of their project. Charley described learning things that could help with becoming more independent “like with food shopping and all that, being a grown up.”

For Matilda, the experience has helped her develop “managing money and more independence and friendship skills.”

Through KEY+, the group isn’t simply learning about skills – they are developing them by putting them into practice. They have had to communicate, solve problems, manage money, plan their time, make decisions and work through disagreements as they turn their idea into a real project.

The experience has given them to spend time together and strengthen their friendships. Charley said: “It’s helped our wellbeing because we’ve been talking to each other.” For Charley, that opportunity to work together and make their own decisions is one of the things that makes KEY+ special. She said: “It’s an amazing programme because you get to meet people you might not know and make decisions by yourselves that you might not usually get to.”

For The Blondies, this is more than just a sleepover. It has been an opportunity to make decisions, take responsibility and see what they are capable of when they work together.