Welcome from the Chair and Chief Executive
We are delighted to present The Key’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2025–26, a year marked by both strategic renewal and a strong focus on deepening our impact for young people across the North East of England.
Central to this period has been the launch of our new three‑year strategy (2025–28), co‑created with young people, partners and sector leaders. This strategy sharpens our collective focus on reaching young people who need us most, particularly those growing up in poverty or facing structural and personal disadvantage. It also aims to ensure they have meaningful opportunities to build confidence, develop essential skills, and strengthen their connections to others and to their communities.
In a region where more than a third of children and young people are living in poverty, and where access to high‑quality youth opportunities continues to be constrained, the role of trusted, youth‑led provision has never been more important. Throughout the year, young people engaged with the KEY+ Challenge to use their voices, explore their ideas and lead projects that mattered to them. Their creativity, resilience and leadership were evident in the breadth of projects delivered including social action, enterprise and community focussed activities.
This year also saw the continued growth of Youth Action Unlocked, including regional activity and place-based delivery in Sunderland, together with our contribution to the #'iwill Movement, through taking a leading role in launching Newcastle upon Tyne as a City of Social Action. These initiatives reinforced The Key’s role as a regional convener, bringing together young people, partners, funders and decision‑makers to champion youth social action and agency.
In addition, we took the opportunity to strengthen the foundations of the organisation. This year marked our successful exit from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Youth Strategic Investment Fund, concluding five years of significant and transformational investment in The Key. This long‑term partnership has played a vital role in bolstering our sustainability, leadership and organisational resilience. This has enabled us to deepen our impact and respond more effectively to the needs of young people across the North East. We now move forward as a stronger organisation, with a clearer strategic focus and increased confidence in our ability to deliver lasting change.
As part of this organisational strengthening, we secured new and multi‑year partnership funding and made significant progress in clarifying and embedding what quality and impact look like across our work. Our Youth Advisory Board continued to shape programme development and organisational thinking, ensuring young people’s lived experience remains at the heart of our decision‑making. Our annual Key Awards, designed, delivered and led by young people, once again powerfully illustrated the transformative impact of youth‑led opportunities.
We remain deeply grateful to our volunteers, facilitators, partners, funders and supporters who make this work possible, and above all to the young people who continue to inspire and challenge us. Their ambition, insight and determination are the reason our mission matters.
The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)".
Our charitable purpose
We create opportunities for young people in the North East of England to harness their own agency and forge positive pathways for themselves.
Vision
We want all young people in the North East of England to be able to unlock unlimited futures for themselves.
Need
Many young people growing up in the North East of England will not have access to the opportunities and networks of support that other young people have, especially if they face additional barriers. This can mean they lack the chance and confidence to try things out, discover their true interests and capabilities, and pursue a meaningful future.
Impact
The Key helps young people unlock their own potential by providing the support, resources, and opportunities to try new things, grow essential skills, and take control of their futures. Our support enables those facing barriers to discover what they are capable of, build pride in themselves, and pursue meaningful futures that once felt out of reach.
Values
Focus – purposeful, committed, driven
Collaboration – respectful, transparent, inclusive
Growth – curious, resilient, committed to improvement
How we work
We work collaboratively to ensure young people have access to the KEY+ Challenge. KEY+ gives young people the chance to explore what matters to them, shape their own ideas, and bring them to life. Through practical decision‑making, problem‑solving, and teamwork, young people experience real ownership - supported by adults who believe in their potential and guide without taking over. Its scaffolded, three‑stage approach gives young people enough structure to build their confidence step by step, gradually taking on more responsibility as they grow. It’s an empowering process that builds confidence through doing.
The KEY+ Challenge is grounded in Self‑Determination Theory, which shows that young people flourish when their psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met. KEY+ meets these needs through youth‑led decision making, practical responsibility, and supportive relationships with peers and trusted adults. Because the programme is designed around these proven drivers of positive development, young people become more confident trying new things, build supportive friendships, feel a stronger sense of pride in themselves, and gain the belief that they can achieve even when things feel hard. These are the foundations that enable young people to feel more able to shape their world and take control of their own next steps.
Public benefit
All activities are directed toward public benefit by:
Supporting young people facing poverty and disadvantage
Improving wellbeing, skills, confidence and connectedness
Enabling contributions to communities
Providing early intervention and preventative youth work support
The trustees confirm compliance with Charity Commission public benefit guidance.
During the year, The Key made strong progress against its strategic objectives, despite a challenging external environment for the youth and voluntary sector. Trustees are encouraged by the organisation’s continued focus on quality, youth voice, and long-term impact, alongside securing funding to sustain and scale delivery.
Supporting Young People Through KEY+
The Key continued to deliver and develop the KEY+ Challenge as its core programme, supporting young people aged 10–25 to design and lead youth-led social action projects. While overall reach during the year was affected by reduced commissioned delivery in some areas (including the non-recommissioning of the North East Combined Authority Transitions contract), the organisation maintained meaningful engagement through partnerships and targeted programmes.
Highlights included:
Youth Action Unlocked activity, including both local delivery and a major showcase event attended by approximately 100 young people, funders and partners, strengthening The Key’s role as a regional convener in youth social action.
A commissioned place-based Sunderland Youth Action Unlocked programme, working with Sunderland City Council and the Sunderland All Together Consortium to support young people in three locations across the city to deliver youth-led social action projects.
Leading the launch of ‘Newcastle City of Social Action’ in partnership with the #'iwill Movement with The Key taking a convening role in bringing together young people and organisations and shining a spotlight on the power of young people’s voice.
Launched a Unity in the Community programme in response to young people’s experiences following civil unrest, supporting youth-led community action projects that strengthened local connections and promoted cohesion, with young people generating 17 ideas for positive change across their communities in a short space of time.
Through this work, young people continued to develop confidence, skills, supportive relationships and a sense of pride and purpose, aligned with The Key’s charitable aims.
Collectively, these achievements demonstrate how the charity’s core activities during the year directly advanced its purpose of enabling young people to harness their own agency and forge positive pathways for themselves.
Strengthening Quality and Consistency
A significant achievement this year was the clarification and strengthening of what “quality” looks like across KEY+ delivery in different contexts.
The organisation moved from a set of “non-negotiables” to a clearer set of Guiding Principles, which define high-quality KEY+ delivery while allowing adaptation to local needs. These principles emphasise that projects should be youth-led, focused on skills development, purposeful, reflective, and supported by skilled facilitators.
Key developments included:
Mapping the Guiding Principles to the organisation’s updated Theory of Change.
Beginning the integration of these principles into facilitator training, FAQs and delivery resources.
Actively involving the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) in testing and refining quality standards, ensuring they reflect young people’s lived experience.
In addition, The Key developed its first formal programme adaptation, KEY+ in Education, drawing on learning from commissioned transition work and collaboration with Children North East. This produced a comprehensive, market-ready resource to support consistent and high-quality delivery in school settings.
Demonstrating Impact
During the year, The Key made major progress in strengthening its approach to impact measurement and learning.
With support from an external impact partner, the organisation refined its Theory of Change to clearly define the key ways young people grow and develop through their engagement with The Key. This resulted in five core outcomes:
Increased confidence to try new things
Young people feel more willing to step outside their comfort zones and take positive risks.
Stronger supportive friendships and networks
They build meaningful relationships and feel connected to peers and trusted individuals.
Greater belief in their ability to succeed, even when things feel challenging
They develop resilience and a mindset that helps them persevere through difficulties.
A sense of pride in themselves and their achievements
Young people recognise their strengths and feel good about who they are and what they accomplish.
A feeling of empowerment to shape their world
They believe their voice matters and feel able to influence their communities and future.
These outcomes reflect The Key’s distinctive focus on youth agency rather than predefined outputs.
This new impact measurement framework, includes:
Validated indicators mapped to each outcome
Distinct short and long-term measures across different stages of engagement
Improved data collection processes, shifting towards young-person-owned data entry to improve reliability and promote reflective practice
The new outcome measures are being embedded from April 2026, ensuring future reporting is both robust and proportionate, and supports a culture of learning rather than performance management alone.
Amplifying Youth Voice
Putting young people at the heart of the organisation remained a core priority.
Key achievements included:
The successful recruitment of three new Youth Advisory Board (YAB) members from a strong field of applicants, with most applicants new to The Key.
Establishing a more regular meeting rhythm for the YAB, combining online and in-person sessions.
Increasing the YAB’s influence on programme design, social media content, quality standards and strategic thinking.
Trustees welcomed the continued development of the YAB, including steps towards youth-chaired sessions and clearer articulation of employability benefits for young people involved.
Partnerships, Profile and Funding
Despite a difficult funding landscape, the organisation secured and progressed several important funding and partnership opportunities, strengthening its future sustainability. These included multi-year grants from The National Lottery Community Fund (Reaching Communities), the Federico and Luigi Innocenti Foundation, and Garfield Weston Foundation.
The successful application to The National Lottery Community Fund represents a significant achievement, with the potential to:
Reach over 560 young people
Enable nearly 200 youth-led projects
Fund approximately 3,000 additional hours of youth work in communities across the region
Embed KEY+ in multiple partnership areas using The Key’s three-part funding partnership model
The Key also continued to raise its profile through strong media coverage and thought leadership, with features in national and regional publications and broadcast media, reinforcing its reputation as a trusted voice in youth empowerment and social action.
Overall Performance
Trustees are satisfied that, over the year, The Key has:
Continued to deliver meaningful outcomes for young people
Strengthened the quality, consistency and clarity of its work
Embedded youth voice more deeply into governance and delivery
Improved its approach to measuring and evidencing impact
Taken important steps to secure future sustainability
These achievements provide a strong foundation for the next phase of delivery of our strategy.
The charity’s activities during the year were funded through a combination of restricted project grants, partnership delivery contracts and unrestricted membership and core funding, as detailed in the accompanying financial statements.
Despite a challenging funding climate, The Key remained financially resilient during the year, managing its resources carefully while continuing to invest in programme quality, strategic development and long‑term sustainability.
Financial results
The year ended with total income of £314,042 (2025: £476,525) and total expenditure of £477,909 (2025: £672,130), resulting in a planned deficit of £163,867.
This reflects trustees’ decisions on the management of reserves, including the strategic utilisation of previously designated and restricted funds to support programme delivery, organisational development and strategic investment during the period.
Principal funding sources
Grant-making Trusts and Foundations
Partnership delivery contracts
Membership income
Project grants supporting KEY+ delivery and youth-led project funding
Grant making Trusts and Foundations again provided much needed support with funds by investing in building the capacity of the staff team and the longer-term viability of the organisation. Trusts and Foundations helped provide the essential project funds needed for young people to implement their ideas. Such funders included Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Sir James Knott Trust, A D Charitable Trust, Ballinger Trust, The William Leech Charity, LGA Foundation, and Community Foundation North East amongst others.
Investment policy
The charity retains cash reserves, held in deposit accounts to minimise risk. The Board reviews investment options periodically to ensure funds are managed prudently.
The Trustees have considered The Key’s financial position, funding pipeline and principal risks when assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The Key has secured funding through a number of multi-year grants and continues to maintain a pipeline of prospective funding opportunities. Trustees continue to monitor financial performance and reserves closely.
Having considered these matters, the Trustees believe The Key has adequate resources to continue operating for the foreseeable future and therefore continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
The Board has determined that the appropriate level of free reserves is equivalent to six months of operating expenditure, in accordance with The Key's financial policy. The purpose of maintaining reserves at this level is to protect the charity's financial sustainability, safeguard the continuity of its activities and services, and enable it to meet its obligations during periods of unexpected income shortfall or other financial uncertainty.
During the year, the Board assessed the appropriate minimum level of free reserves at £183,823 and approved the planned use of reserves to support strategic development activity and delivery of the organisation's strategic objectives. As a result, reserves reduced as planned during the year whilst continuing to provide an appropriate level of financial resilience.
At 31 March 2026, unrestricted free reserves totalled £224,890, including approximately £40,000 of secured multi-year grant funding relating to future financial periods, recognised in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). Excluding this future-year funding, reserves available to support current operations remain consistent with the Board's reserves target and equate to approximately 5.6 months of operating expenditure. Trustees therefore consider the year-end reserves position appropriate given the charity's risk profile, future commitments and funding environment.
Looking ahead, The Key has a clear and ambitious plan for the coming period, underpinned by its 2025–28 Strategy. The organisation’s plans respond directly to the evolving needs of young people in the North East of England, particularly those growing up in poverty or facing additional barriers, while remaining agile in a complex and uncertain funding environment.
During the next period, the charity will focus on delivering Year 2 of its three-year strategy, structured around its three strategic priorities: Reach, Quality and Impact, supported by strong organisational enablers.
Reach: Supporting Young People Who Need Us Most
The Key will deepen and strengthen its focus on reaching young people who are most likely to benefit from its support. Building on its partnership-based delivery model, the organisation will prioritise collaboration with youth and community organisations, schools, and regional networks to ensure resources are targeted where need and potential impact are greatest.
Key plans include:
Deepening and expanding strategic partnerships, particularly place-based and thematic partnerships aligned to regional and national priorities.
Evolving the membership offer to reduce barriers to participation and enable more young people to access KEY+ opportunities through trusted partners.
Continuing to develop thematic and place-based initiatives, such as Youth Action Unlocked and Unity in the Community, which enable young people to identify issues that matter to them and take meaningful action.
Increasing profile and influence within relevant regional and national networks, positioning The Key as a strategic convenor in youth social action and empowerment.
The organisation will increasingly prioritise work with its identified target groups, including young people with SEND, those experiencing mental health challenges, young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), and other groups facing multiple and compounding barriers.
Quality: Creating the Best Experience for Young People
Over the coming period, The Key will focus on embedding consistently high-quality experiences for young people across all KEY+ delivery contexts.
Planned activity includes:
Embedding the Quality Framework, ensuring it is fully integrated into facilitator training, resources and systems.
Updating the essential skills tool, ensuring it continues to reflect the emerging needs of young people and aligns with the organisation’s impact framework.
Aligning onboarding, training and support to deliver a consistently high-quality facilitation experience, regardless of setting.
Continuing to develop tailored adaptations of KEY+ to meet the needs of specific groups of young people, co-created with young people, partners and subject experts.
By focusing on quality, the charity aims to ensure that every young person engaging with KEY+ benefits from an experience that is youth-led, purposeful and supportive of their personal development.
Impact: Delivering the Best Outcomes for Young People
A central priority for the coming period is the full implementation of The Key’s new impact framework, ensuring the charity measures what matters and uses data to inform learning and decision-making.
Plans include:
Fully embedding outcome measures aligned to the organisation’s five core outcomes: confidence, belief in self, supportive relationships, pride and agency.
Supporting young people to better understand and articulate how the skills they develop through KEY+ contribute to their futures.
Strengthening data quality through improved digital tools.
Sharing compelling stories of difference that demonstrate both individual and community-level change.
The charity will also continue to place young people at the heart of its impact work through an active Youth Advisory Board and the development of alumni pathways, ensuring lived experience informs future priorities.
Organisational Enablers and Sustainability
Alongside programme delivery, The Key will prioritise the organisational enablers necessary to deliver its strategy effectively and sustainably.
Key plans include:
Continuing to diversify income streams, building on successful partnership funding and trust and foundation support, while avoiding unsustainable growth.
Strengthening systems and processes to support good governance, proportionate risk management and financial oversight.
Enhancing digital solutions, including the organisation’s online platform, to improve user experience and support reflective practice and impact measurement.
Continuing to prioritise marketing and communications to raise the charity’s profile, share learning and attract partners and supporters aligned with its mission.
Embedding a learning culture that encourages innovation, reflection and continuous improvement.
Continuing to strengthen equality, equity, diversity and inclusion across delivery, staffing and governance.
Outlook
The Trustees recognise that the external context for youth work remains challenging, with ongoing funding uncertainty and increasing levels of need among young people. However, they believe that The Key’s clear strategic focus, strong partnerships, and commitment to youth-led practice position the charity well to continue making a meaningful contribution to young people’s lives.
Over the coming period, the organisation will remain focused on sustainability over scale, ensuring it delivers high-quality, impactful work that stays true to its purpose: enabling young people to harness their own agency and unlock positive futures for themselves.
The Key is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 25 March 1997. It operates under Articles of Association last updated by special resolution on 10 October 2020.
During the year 2025–2026, the Trustees undertook a review of the Articles of Association to ensure they remain appropriate and reflective of the organisation’s current and intended activities. Proposed amendments were submitted to the Charity Commission for approval.
An application was also made to Companies House to change the company’s name. Approval for the new name, The Key-UK Limited, was received on 28th April 2026.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Trustees are appointed through an open recruitment process involving networks across the public, private and voluntary sectors. Board skills include financial management, youth work, strategic planning, communications, equality and inclusion, grant-making and HR.
New trustees receive:
An induction pack (governing document, recent financial statements, strategic plan)
Meetings with the CEO and Chair
Opportunities to attend KEY+ sessions and events
Refresher governance briefings as required
Organisational structure
The organisation consists of a staff team of eight, supported by freelance personnel as needed. KEY+ is delivered through trained Key Facilitators employed by or volunteering with our partner organisations. All facilitators are DBS checked and work under their organisation’s safeguarding policies, supported by The Key’s training, tools, resources and ongoing support.
Volunteers
Delivery of the KEY+ Challenge was enabled by 24 volunteers, who collectively gave 110 hours of volunteer time contributing an estimated social value of £1,650 to the organisation, based on standard UK volunteer valuation rates.
Related parties
The Key works collaboratively with a wide range of partner organisations including schools, youth organisations, community groups and public sector bodies to deliver youth-led opportunities across the region.
During the year there were no related party transactions requiring disclosure (2025: none).
Pay policy for senior staff
Senior staff remuneration is benchmarked against comparable charities, with adjustments for role complexity and recruitment considerations. Trustees receive no remuneration, but can claim expenses incurred in fulfilling their trustee role.
Risk management
The Board maintains overall responsibility for risk. A Finance and Risk Sub‑Committee meets quarterly and monitors risks relating to safeguarding, funding, compliance, operations, governance and partnerships.
Mitigation mechanisms include:
Quarterly management accounts and cash flow forecasts
Cyber security and data protection controls, including secure management of systems and personal data
Monthly performance dashboards
Quarterly strategic risk review
Internal controls for financial and data security
Safeguarding procedures and training
Scenario planning for income volatility
The trustees confirm they have paid due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
Environmental considerations
The trustees have considered the charity’s environmental impact and have concluded it is modest given the size of the organisation and the nature of its activities. The Key seeks to minimise environmental impact by using digital delivery and communications where possible and by reducing travel through remote meetings and place‑based partnership working.
The trustees (who are also directors for company law purposes) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires trustees to prepare financial statements that give a true and fair view of the charity’s financial activities and financial position. In preparing these statements, the trustees must:
Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently
Make reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates
Prepare the accounts on the going concern basis
Ensure proper accounting records are maintained
Safeguard the assets of the charity
The trustees confirm that, so far as they are aware, there is no relevant information of which the independent examiner is unaware, and they have taken all necessary steps to make themselves aware of such information.
The trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The Key-UK Limited (formerly Keyfund Federation Ltd) (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2026.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The Key-UK Limited (formerly Keyfund Federation Ltd) is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Maybrook House, Floor 3, 27 Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 5JE.
Change of Name
By special resolution of the members dated 28/04/2026 the company changed its name from Keyfund Federation Limited to The Key-UK Limited
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)". The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a statement of cash flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Directors for a particular purpose. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Income from charitable activities includes income received under contract or where entitlement to grant funding is subject to specific performance conditions and recognised as earned. Grant income included in this category provides funding to support performance activities and is recognised where there is entitlement, certainty of receipt and the amount can be measured with reasonable certainty. Income received to deliver services over a specific period covering more than one financial year is accounted for over the specific period; related expenditure is accounted when incurred.
Investment income relates to interest earned through holding assets on deposit.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
Intangible assets represent the operating system used by the company and an online manual for licences.
Amortisation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity is exempt from taxation under the Charities Act 2011.
The charitable company contributes to a defined contribution pension scheme for employees. the assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable company. The annual contributions payable are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities.
The charity greatly benefits from the involvement and enthusiastic support of its many volunteers, details of which are given in their annual report.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year. (2025: nil)
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
2026 included members of the Youth Advisory Board employed on a small-hours basis.
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
Key Funds (Restricted)
Funds received from donors for groups of young people participating in The Key+ Challenge, helping to remove financial barriers that may prevent them from bringing their ideas and projects to life. These funds are restricted by the donor and may only be used to provide resources that young people need to deliver projects developed through participation in the programme.
Project Funds (Restricted)
Funds received from donors to support the delivery of The Key+ Challenge. These funds are restricted by the donor and may only be used for costs directly associated with the delivery, administration and development of the programme.
Any unspent balances are carried forward and applied to the relevant restricted purpose in future periods.
These are unrestricted funds which are material to the charity's activities.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
Key Funds
Represents funds received for distributions to groups of young people in order to implement the key projects they have planned by participating in The Key+ Challenge.
Project funds
Represents funds received to support the delivery of The Key+ Challenge to young people.
Business Development
The organisation embarked on a two-year development programme that will explore and support the area that they are looking to grow and expand. (Started at the end of 2024)
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2025 - none).