Mahaba Café: Celebrating Inclusion and Empowerment

Located in the heart of Ealing, at Ealing Project, Mahaba Café is not just a place to grab a coffee; it's a hub for creating opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). With only 2.2% of adults with learning disabilities employed in the area, Mahaba Café is determined to change this narrative by offering real-life training, valuable work experience, and community interaction. Their mission is simple: to make disability visible and give young people the tools to thrive in the workplace.

This year has been a monumental one for Mahaba Café. Not only did they win the 'Employability Project of the Year' at the 2024 Young Ealing Foundation Awards, but they also released a brand-new short film celebrating their success and featured on BBC London News, showcasing the impact they are making in the local community. To top it all off, they are celebrating their first anniversary, marking a year of life-changing experiences for their learners.

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Muriel Morgan Walckiers, Executive Director of Mahaba Café, and Marcus, one of the café's learners, to discuss their award, work placements during National Inclusion Week, and the exposure they've received from the BBC feature.

Q&A with Muriel & Marcus

Congratulations on your recent award win at the Young Ealing Foundation Awards! What impact has winning the Employability Project of the Year had on your team and the young people you support?

Muriel:
Our Award is still very new, but it is extremely rewarding to be recognised for the impact we’ve had on the employability journey of young people with SEND and Autism. Gaining café skills and employability skills at Mahaba Café, alongside real-life work experiences, has been a turning point for many of them. It has helped them build confidence, develop a sense of self-worth, and feel part of the community.
Our heartfelt thanks to the panel at the Young Ealing Foundation for being so inspired by Mahaba Café and giving us the award.

Marcus:
I felt actually proud. I’ve never won an award like that in my life. It was a fun night, very special. My sister was there and thought it was a good thing. She told me to give a speech, and I said to everybody there, ‘everybody should just get jobs.’

National Inclusion Week is such a significant event, and it’s inspiring to see Mahaba Café securing work placements for your graduates. Could you share some of the success stories from these placements and how they’ve influenced the lives of your young learners?

Muriel:
Mahaba Café’s best success story from National Inclusion Week is here with me today. Marcus joined us when we were leafleting for those placements, and we came across the amazing staff at Mind Charity shop in Ealing Green. They not only offered a placement for the week, but they also offered Marcus a permanent position in their shop.
All the placements we secured provided valuable insights into the world of work and helped our learners make beneficial connections with new people. As one of our learners said, “I am not autistic one week of the year only,” so we hope to offer regular placement opportunities.

Marcus:
Getting the job at Mind was a good thing. When I was at Mahaba Café for a year, I didn’t realise the other learners would leave. I met lots of people and really got on with them. But I never really got the chance to move on. It was a bit stressful, and I felt lonely. It brought me down. Coming to Mind made me feel over the moon—to do something different.

Your feature on BBC London News is a fantastic achievement! How has the exposure from the BBC feature impacted Mahaba Café and your mission to create inclusive employment opportunities for young people with special educational needs, disabilities, and autism?

Muriel:
It has been amazing to gain visibility and put a spotlight on how great our learners are. We saw an increase in our Instagram followers too, which means we’re reaching more people who will hopefully share our mission. Since the interview, several people have reached out to tell us how inspired they were and to see how they can help, so it’s been really beneficial for us.
The big message we want to send out to business owners is to see the benefits and joy that our young people can bring to their businesses, not to focus on the slightly longer adaptation period they might need when starting a new position. We accompany our young people step by step in their new job until they feel ready to be completely independent.

Marcus:
When I saw Mahaba Café on the news, I thought it was a good thing. I was surprised and shocked to see Ibraheem giving a speech and Muriel talking. I’d never seen that before in my life. It was great to be on the news—to tell more people in London about Mahaba Café.

Mahaba Café continues to shine a light on the importance of inclusion, offering meaningful opportunities and empowering young people to reach their full potential. If you’re a local business looking to join the movement, Mahaba Café invites you to get involved and be part of the change.