London cafe gives workers with learning disabilities a ‘fair shot’
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Zaki (centre) gets tips from skills coach Natalia as they work at Fair Shot, a cafe and training centre for people with learning disabilities.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – From the hiss of steam warming milk to the clank of emptying used coffee grounds to the chatter of customers, Fair Shot is like any other London coffee shop, but it is also a training centre for young adults with learning disabilities.
In England, just 4.8 per cent of people with learning disabilities were in paid work in 2022-23, according to the government’s annual survey of adult social care.
Ms Bianca Tavella, founder and chief executive of Fair Shot, believes the rate is too low, and there is a way to help fix it.
Ms Aya Bider, 23, a recent graduate from Fair Shot’s training programme, said: “I’m so proud that I got a paid job.” She now works for the sales department of a brand at luxury goods maker LVMH after she was rejected by employers in the past.
“I would be sad if I didn’t have a job. I would be sitting at home like a lemon, watching TV,” she added.
Having grown up with an autistic friend, Ms Tavella, 29, hatched a plan to give those with learning disabilities or neuro-development disorders a chance to realise their full potential by providing training – both for them and for employers.
There have been multiple success stories, she noted, remembering one non-verbal student whose parents could not believe their daughter could ever have a job. She has for the last two years been working as a barista at a different cafe.
Ms Tavella said: “She kind of just stays in her lane, is not fazed by anything. She kind of just wants to work.”
Fair Shot students may have autism, auditory processing disorder, motor skill difficulties or an undiagnosed condition.
The programme trains 15 people a year to be ready to secure paid jobs.
Nineteen employers have signed up to give jobs to the students.
There are more than 40 steps for a partner company to go through which can take a year or more as a Fair Shot consultant works to help train front-line staff to be ready for their new addition.
“It’s hard, but I think if the intention is right then it’s super do-able,” said Ms Tavella.
Customers wait for their coffee at Fair Shot, a cafe that helps people with learning disabilities secure paid jobs.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Partners include restaurants like The Ivy, coffee shops, co-working spaces and big companies like Goldman Sachs. Feedback from employers about their new hires has been enthusiastic.
Said Ms Tavella: “Their motivation and how much they genuinely want to work will set them apart from any other employee in any other job.”
She added that one manager of a coffee shop told her that one graduate “is better than any other employee”.
“His coffee is better than any other employee, his work on the till, the way that he shows up to work, how he’s always positive, his work ethic,” she added.
While sales from Fair Shot’s own coffee shop in central London’s Covent Garden help fund some of the training, Ms Tavella raises £450,000 (S$751,000) a year to keep the charity running.
Busy styling chai lattes and serving roasted broccoli frittata, Mr Alex Watling, 18, is half-way through his training at Fair Shot.
“I’m proud that I’ve been doing this job so far, as I can develop experience,” he said, adding that he is hopeful of a paid job at the end of it. REUTERS
