Fedcap Celebrates 50,000th Customer Supported Into Work

A 21-year-old single mum who has never been in work has become the 50,000th person Fedcap has supported into employment in the UK.

Since 2019, Fedcap has worked in partnership with the UK, Scottish, and Welsh governments, local authorities and integrated care boards, to provide personalised employability programmes and services that give people the best chance of finding and staying in work.

Now, Fedcap is celebrating reaching its achievement of supporting 50,000 people into work with a single mum who first needed support with her mental health before she could even contemplate looking for employment.

Rumaysah Al-Khalil, a 21-year-old single mum, had no experience of working when she joined the Department for Work and Pension’s Restart Scheme at Fedcap’s Staines office a year ago.

Her employment adviser, Radi Demina, said: “When Rumaysah joined Fedcap she was very motivated to look for work, but over the course of our appointments I noticed that her spark was slowly disappearing. She eventually shared that she was struggling with her mental health due to a breakdown in a relationship and she needed support to find new housing for her and her son.”

Radi introduced Rumaysah to Riverside Clubhouse, Fedcap’s award-winning community-based intervention, where she found dedicated support to improve both her mental health and her housing situation.

Rumaysah said: “I wanted to work but I wasn’t strong enough mentally and emotionally. I was at my lowest when I joined Fedcap. Radi and Clubhouse, made me feel calm and safe. They were very patient with me and I’m very grateful for that. I opened up to them and trusted them. They changed my mindset and gave me confidence.”

Rumaysah has accepted a role as an assistant in a local nursery which fits perfectly around her caring responsibilities to her young son.

She added: “My journey has been quite hard, and I’ve been fighting for myself and my wellbeing. When I look back, I’m very proud of the person I’ve become. I’m working at a place that makes me happy and I now have lots of goals.”

Christine McMahon, President and CEO of Fedcap, said: “Rumaysah’s story is a fantastic example of how Fedcap is bringing to life our mission of improving people’s economic mobility.

“We support hundreds of thousands of people every year across our footprint in North America and the UK, and Rumaysah is a reminder of why we do what we do. To have reached this milestone of supporting 50,000 people into work in the UK is a tremendous achievement.

“I’m also delighted that Rumaysah found support as a Clubhouse member. Learning from our Clubhouse offer in the US, the UK team have innovated to develop a unique community to support people facing mental health challenges, with many going on to find work.”

Brian Bell, President of Fedcap Employment, said: “Rumaysah’s story is just phenomenal. She’s a young girl with huge ambition and our starting point with her, as with so many other people, is to help them believe in themselves.

“We deliver great services for people, wrapping services around them, whether to do with housing, mental health or wellbeing. Of course, we also focus on how to look for a job, but it’s much more than filling a CV, it’s dealing with the whole person. Some people really need that full wrap-around support and Fedcap provides this for them.”

Susan Paterson, Executive Director of Fedcap Employment, said: “There’s so many young people now who are not in employment, education, or training, and it’s a question of how do we lift them up, so they believe in themselves, gain confidence, experience and life skills?

“Fedcap believed in Rumaysah and it’s brilliant that she’s got a job that she loves, is thriving and is looking forward to the future.”

Fedcap has long recognised the importance of integrating health and employment, innovating in the sector, including embedding a dedicated health and wellbeing team into its services.

The not-for-profit organisation has continued to pioneer new ways to support the increasing number of customers disclosing mental health challenges and its award-winning Clubhouses are helping 1 in 4 members into employment, with 9 in 10 reporting improved mental health.