What we do
Through a wide variety of partnerships, we empower young people to complete the KEY+ Challenge, our youth-led skills development challenge, built upon over 30 years' experience and founded on our core beliefs.
How we do it
We work with organisations who use KEY+ to empower young people to realise their potential, develop the skills they need to thrive, and recognise the positive impact they can make in society.
KEY+ is a comprehensive, versatile skills development challenge, informed from over 30 years' experience. It consists of three stages and provides young people with the opportunity to believe in themselves and have agency to lead their own projects.
Hear all about it from young people, partners and our team in this short video.
About KEY+
Within each stage of KEY+, young people form a group and progress through a five-step process to think, plan (including budget), pitch (to an external 'Dragon Den' style panel of volunteers), do and review three of their own progressively challenging projects.
- Stage one - Kickstart skills
- Stage two - Exceed expectations
- Stage three - Youth impact
- Plus, once young people have completed the programme, they are supported to continue their growth through bespoke opportunities, work experience or volunteering.
Transitioning through the stages sees young people build their confidence, grow as individuals, and recognise the positive impact they can make in society.
The impact it makes
KEY+ is informed by self-determination theory which suggests that people become self-determined and form a growth mindset when their needs for autonomy (self), relatedness (relationship) and competence (task) are fulfilled.
By leading and delivering their own youth-led activities through KEY+, young people develop 12 important personal and social skills. We call these the 12 Key Skills and they are split into these three categories - self, relationship and task skills.
The 12 Key Skills empower young people to form a growth mindset and realise they have the power to achieve anything they put their mind to.
Find out more below...
Success Stories
Every year, young people achieve great things through KEY+. Here's just a few stories showcasing the impact of our unique programme...
