Young people set up garden at flower show

Three young people set up the garden while four others will help with hospitality on Saturday. The garden, known as The Key, incorporates a path made of thousands of old keys and symbolises being locked up, as well as being released.

 Homeless projects and prisons have grown most of the 10,000 plants, as part of a collaboration between the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), Communities and Local Government (CLG), the Eden Project and Homeless Link.

Designer Paul Stone said: "The idea behind the garden is that it echoes the life journeys that people are making. It is a symbol of being locked up - whether in prison or just by a lack of opportunity - but also a means of opening doors and being released."

Leicester YMCA resident Bekah Cawrey, 17, who helped set up the garden, said: "It was a productive day with a lot of hard work involved.  The idea of the garden was that change is possible."

Paul Brown, chief executive of Leicester YMCA said: "This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to get access to a nationally recognised event that is quite often outside their economic reach.

"The garden project and the hospitality work will develop their confidence and self-esteem and add valuable experience to their CVs - all helping them to make a real step towards employment."

Richard Cunningham, manager of the HCA's Places of Change programme, said: "This is proof of what can be achieved if you give disadvantaged people the opportunity. It shows how negative stereotypes often associated with homeless people are simply not true."