Rosie, thank you for the learning, the laughter, and the love.

 

Key Unlocking Futures opened its doors in Leyland in 1994 to support young people experiencing homelessness. The charity has evolved and grown its services in the last 29 years and now supports children, young people, individuals, and whole families going through tough times.

 

Quite a few people have been part of Key’s journey from then to now, but no one is as admired and as inspirational as Rosie.

 

What stands out when you meet with Rosie is her presence. She is someone who exudes confidence, instills calmness when she speaks, is always keen to find out about other people, and has a real passion for learning. Rosie has a great sense of fun and laughter.

 

Rosie leaves Key at the end of this month to begin her next chapter, and we cannot find the words to express just how much she will be missed by colleagues and by the people she has worked with.

 

We caught up with Rosie ahead of her impending retirement to find out more about her working history and her time spent at Key.

 

Rosie has always worked hard, and work has always been a huge part of her life. In particular, when Rosie speaks about the different jobs she has had over the years, what has been important to Rosie is the laughter and the different friendships she has forged at work, with many friendships that began at work lasting over decades.

 

Rosie started her career as a short-hand typist in Liverpool, doing various administration roles. When Rosie got a job at the Community College supporting young people with disabilities to do NVQ’s and source youth opportunities, it was also an opportunity for Rosie to undertake new training qualifications for herself in business and finance. She then went on to do a teaching qualification and would teach literacy and numeracy to people of all ages.

 

When Rosie worked at the local council, they decided to set up a one-stop shop for customers, and this meant Rosie had to train up on every function offered by the council. This was no mean feat, and she wasn’t given very long to do it, but one thing Rosie is is determined, and she was determined to ensure the project was a success. The teaching qualification came in really handy at that point because Rosie was promoted to train up new people for the pioneering new call centre that was being set up in the early 1990s, around the same time Key was formed. She also did counselling training and mediation, supporting managers and employees to resolve conflict within the workplace.

 

After Rosie took voluntary redundancy from the council, it was around this time that she applied to be a ‘Mediator’ for Key. This was a new role, and at the time there were only a handful of staff working at Key and based at the Civic Centre at South Ribble Council offices in a ‘cupboard’. It is no exaggeration to say the office was tiny!

 

Rosie began training volunteers and working to support families in crisis by offering family therapy. With Rosie at the helm, it’s no surprise that this project went really well, and with the service in demand, they began to source new funding to keep the service running.

 

Over the years, Rosie would undertake more training in therapeutic techniques, enabling a wider offer of therapeutic services for families.

 

In 2014, Key joined Progress Housing Group and moved to Balfour Court in Leyland. Rosie has seen Key grow from six staff members to the 47 that there are today.

 

When we asked Rosie what she has enjoyed about her time at Key, she said it’s the people she has supported. Seeing the ‘lightbulb moment’ when families begin to communicate with each other, when they begin to have a better understanding, when the dynamics change for the better within a family unit, is a real sense of achievement and satisfaction. When Rosie has met up with former clients over the years, they usually comment about the tools she has bestowed on them, how she has taught them to look inwardly and outwardly, how life is a constant investment and to be kind to themselves, and how Rosie is always with them, on their shoulder.

 

Rosie says she is inspired by her own children and grandchildren, who are teaching her new things every day.

 

Rosie is looking forward to spending more time with family, taking up sewing again, running, writing poetry, and doing yoga.

 

We want to wish Rosie all the best for her next chapter, and on behalf of Key, colleagues, and all those people who have been supported by you, Rosie, thank you for everything, especially the learning, the laughter, and the love.

 

Here is a poem Rosie wrote about her time working at Key

 

My work at Key, what it means to me

 

Walking, talking, listening and learning, despite all weather they show their colours

Things happen and stories are told of famine, war, invasion, persecution and migration. 

These things occur for each generation.

Fear, terror, heartbreak, rupture and repair continues on from despair

Isolation, intervention and hope to recycle and renew

Another season invigorates and rapturous is the view as possibilities arrive

Engaging in the whole self, stimulating perceptual senses

To experience an airing of each thought, expressed in many tongues and tones

Sweeping tides in different zones

Bathing thoughts and soothing minds

Freeing the self from torment and regret, grounding and baring souls

Easing pain and release of suffering

Kindness that heals bruised, broken and lonely hearts

In forming new neural pathways, their beauty shines from inside out

Calming presence has evolved, peaceful moments arrive

Survivors with many strengths in every sense

Even on the gloomiest of days people live

They are alive and continue to thrive