At The Key, our facilitators play a vital role in helping young people grow in confidence, develop teamwork skills, and turn their ideas into action. In this facilitator spotlight, we’re introducing Jill, who has been supporting young people through the KEY+ Challenge at St Thomas More for many years.
Jill’s journey with The Key began more than a decade ago: “I first became involved with The Key in 2010 when it was called Key Fund. During COVID, my membership lapsed and I retrained as a KEY+ Facilitator at the beginning of 2025.” And over this time, Jill has supported so many young people to build their confidence, skills and resilience.
Talking about the projects that Jill has supported, she shared that choosing a favourite project isn’t easy because each group brings something different: “This is a difficult one! I have enjoyed so many different aspects of the groups, but my favourite activity has been taking part in a fused glass workshop. I also enjoyed a trip to York with my last Stage 2 group – The Divas.”
For Jill, facilitating groups offers something different from her day-to-day role in school: “The main part of my role in school is offering 1:1 support to young people, so I enjoy bringing together groups and supporting them to develop skills within a team. I love feeling the ‘buzz’ following a successful pitch to panel and then accompanying them on their planned activities.”
When facilitating KEY+ groups, Jill shared an example of a young person who benefited from The Key and KEY+, showing the difference that our youth-led programmes can make: “A female student who found it difficult to settle in school in Year 7 became a member of my first group after having updated my training. I was able to get to know her beyond a 1:1 situation and watch her interact with her peers. As her confidence improved, she started to take more of a leading role in the group, making sure each member had completed the task they had jointly set. Her confidence grew throughout the time she was in the group and her attendance is much better. She continues to visit our department to do homework and check in and her friendships have grown. Generally, she appears settled and taking a much bigger part in school life, which can only enhance her learning experiences and life chances.”
Stories like this highlight the powerful role facilitators play in supporting young people to grow in confidence, build connections, and see new possibilities for themselves.
When it comes to facilitating, Jill believes preparation makes all the difference: “Be prepared! Actually, working through the KEY+ Challenge Workbook makes it easier.”
“When discussing activity ideas be prepared to check opening times, etc, as a couple of my groups have planned activities at places that aren’t open during the school day.”
Ultimately, Jill said that The Key helps young people to realise what they’re capable of: “It empowers them to believe that they are capable of anything!”
The impact of The Key also extends to the wider organisation she works in: “Apart from the financial rewards enabling our young people to experience areas they may not have the opportunity to do so outside of school, having the support of The Key and the Project Coordinators is invaluable.”
For anyone thinking about becoming a facilitator themselves, Jill’s advice is simple: “Just do it! There are so many benefits to being a Key Facilitator.”
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